


The Supercut of Us

by pretty_odd_daydreamer



Category: Actor RPF, American (US) Actor RPF, Oscar Isaac Fandom, Oscar Isaac-Fandom, Real Person Fiction, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars RPF, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Best Friends, Denial of Feelings, Domestic Fluff, Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 23,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24924610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretty_odd_daydreamer/pseuds/pretty_odd_daydreamer
Summary: "In my head, I play a supercut of us, all the magic we gave off, all the love we had and lost.And in my head, the visions never stop, these ribbons wrap me up..." -Lorde [Supercut]“Can you tell us?” Taylor asked.“It’s not really as spectacular as you may think, in fact, it might actually be really boring and long,” she replied.“Please? I’d really love it if you did.” Taylor pleaded.“Fine,” she sighed, giving in defeat, “Better make sure y’all are seated comfortably though, because this is a long one.”
Relationships: Oscar Isaac/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The main storyline of the this fic is set somewhere in Argentina, around 2017. While the movie "Operation Finale" was in production.  
> There are also a lot of celebrity name dropping throughout this story, so please don't be shocked. It's a small industry. Lol.  
> I did try my best to be somewhat accurate to Oscar's history, or at least what I've known about him through research.

**2017**

“Gracias,” she said as she paid the cab driver before sliding out. With a bouquet of flowers perched on her left arm and a bottle of wine and a paper bag with boxes of cream puffs she baked, on the other, she walked up to the door of the apartment and struggled to ring the doorbell. 

“Maybe I’m too early?” she worried as she waited for the door to be answered. “Is it rude to be too early?” Thankfully, before she could be completely eaten by her panic and worries, the apartment door swung open. 

“Taylor!” Alba greeted with a full smile on her face, “You’re early.”

Taylor smiled apologetically, “Yeah, I’m sorry. Am I being rude? Honestly, I was just really bored in our hotel, so I decided to come by a bit early. And I thought maybe I could help with dinner?”

Alba chuckled, “What??? No worries, come in. I never say no to extra helping hands,” she said warmly as she moved to the side to let Taylor in.

“I got these flowers for you,” Taylor said, handing her the bouquet, “and wine and cream puffs for dinner and dessert.”

“Oh you shouldn’t have! But thank you! Did you bake these?” Taylor shyly nodded.

“Well then, I’m sure these cream puffs are gonna be bomb! And these are gorgeous Taylor, thank you,” Alba said, getting the flowers from Taylor and giving her a side hug. “But this, I love this. C’mon let’s put these in the fridge!” she eagerly declared grabbing the wine bottle before leading Taylor to the kitchen, Taylor let out a quiet giggle before following her.

“I actually just got a call from Oscar before you came, he said they just wrapped for today and just packing up, so they’d probably be here soon.” Alba shared, as she waltzes around the kitchen setting the bottle of wine on the counter and getting a vase for the flowers, “Oh! And Oscar invited Nick to come too. I know this was supposed to be a double date thing, but you know, Nick is an old friend, and he’s actually really company, so--”

Taylor nodded, scanning the kitchen, “It’s okay” she replied absentmindedly.

“Besides, LoRo is also here anyway, so maybe it could be a three way date --ish” Alba continued as she now checks upon the sauce she is cooking. Taylor smiles, grabs the bottle of wine from the counter and the boxes of cream puffs from the paper bag, before walking towards the fridge, “Should I put these in here?” Alba looks up to her and nods. Taylor places everything in the fridge, and walks towards the stove where Alba is.

“There’s mama!” a platinum blonde haired man carrying a chubby brunette baby exclaimed as he dramatically sashays in the kitchen. The tiny brown eyed baby boy squealed in laughter. 

“And that’s LoRo,” Alba explained after reading the look of confusion on Taylor’s face. 

“Logan Russo” the man extends his free hand towards Taylor with a big friendly smile across his face, “But everyone calls me LoRo, so feel free.”

“He’s my personal assistant-slash-stylist-slash…” Alba explained before being cut off by LoRo, “best friend!” 

Alba rolled her eyes, “... ONE, of my best friends.” she emphasized as she walked towards him and getting the chubby baby from his arms, “and this is little buddy, is Gino”

Taylor smiled widely, greeting the little baby hello. “What do you think Taylor? Does he look like me? or Oscar?” Alba asked, walking back to Taylor's side of the kitchen island with Gino still perched on her left arm. 

“Well, he definitely has his eyes,” she replied, trying to get the baby’s attention.

“Ugh. That’s what people keep saying!” Alba faked whine, earning a chuckle from both Taylor and Gino. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a friendly tip for the chapters to come, make sure to pay attention to the year when reading through. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**2017**

The time passed quickly and before they knew it, Oscar finally arrived home accompanied by Joe Alwyn and Nick Kroll. The moment that the men arrived, the entire party worked together like a well-oiled machine. Nick and Logan were helping Taylor out in setting the dining table. Joe was in the bar making cocktails for everyone. Alba was pulling the chicken out from the oven, and Oscar was upstairs preparing Gino for bed. After all the hustle and bustle of preparing dinner and putting the baby to sleep, everyone was finally seated at the dining table, conversing, laughing, and just enjoying dinner together. In the middle of the commotion that was their little dinner party, Oscar takes a glance to his right, where his wife was seated next to him. She was laughing while Nick shared a funny story, and Oscar couldn’t help but smile in awe as everything around him seems to blur out and zone in towards her. “Damn”, he thought, six years together and she still manages to effortlessly captivate him, just like that. Alba felt a gaze on her, making her look to her side where she found her husband staring, with a relaxed half smile across his face. She gave him the “what?” look and Oscar just shook his head and gave her a quick kiss on her temple before zoning back in to whatever conversation happening before them.

After two hours of dinner and everyone helping out in the clean up after, the party now found themselves in the living room, lounging, each cradling a glass of either wine or some sort of cocktail. The stories and the laughter, much like the alcohol, just kept flowing through the night. 

“That’s nothing!” Logan exclaimed, “Y’all should hear the love story of these two,” he continued, pointing at Oscar and Alba seating comfortably together in the loveseat. “Huh… I’ve known you two for a long time and I’ve never actually heard your love story before,” Nick realized, “and I was in your wedding.”

“Oh my god! It is so good. Like When Harry Met Sally good. A tale as freakin’ old as time, bitch! ” Logan bawled, making everyone laugh.

“Oh please! You are overselling it LoRo. It’s not THAT good,” Alba argued, standing up from her seat and making her way to the mobile bar to make another glass of gin and tonic for herself. 

“Pssshh… All I can say is, Alba and Oscar were the ultimate will-they-won’t-they couple I know, worse than Ross and Rachel from Friends or any other movie and tv shows I’ve watched.” Logan added before taking a sip of his wine.

“I guess you can say that iif our love story was a sitcom, you’d have to wait 9 seasons before you’re absolutely sure that “they will”,” Oscar jokes agreeing with Logan and making him chuckle mid-sip and Taylor even more curious. 

“Can you tell us?” Taylor asked.

“It’s not really as spectacular as you may think, in fact, it might actually be really boring and long,” Alba replied.

“Oh c’mon. How bad can it be? It ended with you two being happily married and having a funny little kid,” Nick joined in the coaxing.

“Please? I’d really love it if you did.” Taylor pleaded.

“Fine,” Alba sighed, giving in defeat, “Better make sure y’all are seated comfortably though, because this is a long one.”

“Okay, now admittedly, some parts are a bit boring, and I might be kind of biased,” Oscar pitched in while shifting in his seat to make room for his wife, who’s now taking a seat next to him, “But I do agree that this story’s pretty good.”

“My darling Oscar and I met in drama school,” Alba said dramatically, complete with an old english accent, as she took a seat next to her husband.

“We first met in Juilliard, 2002. She was a freshman and I was a sophomore.” said Oscar, as he places his arm around his wife, “Saw each other first, during the Showing.”

“The Showing is this Juilliard thing. The entire drama department gathers together at the start of the school year, and every student, from 1st year to 4th, is required to do a 3 minute monologue’” Alba quickly elaborated.

“This freshman girl was called, and there she stood before the entire drama department, with a smile that could put all toothpaste models to shame and exuding such confidence usually reserved for politicians trying to win an election.” Oscar fondly recalls, “and then she started doing her monologue. She did Juliet, and goddamn, the girl got some chops in her. I thought it was a really memorable performance, especially from a freshman.”

“And Oscar did a brilliant monologue from Oedipus Rex. I remembered him quite well too, because I thought he was pretty cute.” Alba commented, making everyone in the room laugh. “But, yeah. After that event, there was an after party and that’s where we first officially met.”


	3. Chapter 3

**2002**

**_“I’m sorry. I really have to do this. I have to go”_ **

**_“Ria, please” Oscar pleaded as he stood there, watching her pack all of her things. Unable to do or say anything to stop her. Ria doesn’t answer him and just continues on gathering her things around their tiny studio apartment. Hands shaking and tears spilling from the corner of her eyes. Oscar hugs her from behind as she was opening their door._ **

**_“Ria please, come back to me, please. I’ll wait for you to come back to me, I promise.” he sobbed and begged as she tried to get out of his tight hug around her._ **

**_“Oscar, please... Oscar”_ **

“Oscar! Oscar!” a faint call broke Oscar from his trance.“Hey Oscar!”

Oscar turns towards the voice calling him through the loud and crowded room he was currently in and found his good friend, Jessica, smiling.

“You okay?” she asked him, looking a bit concerned.

A smile formed across his face. “Yeah. Sorry, I was just trying to remember if I was able to lock my apartment before I left.” he lied. Jessica smiled, not buying it. “You sure?”

“Yup” he replied, plastering a cheeky grin across his face. Jessica rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him across a sea of drama students nursing red cups filled with cheap booze, singing and dancing along whatever music was playing. “I want you to meet someone” she explained as she continued to drag him along. They stopped when they finally reached the opposite side of the room and stood in front of a smaller group of students chatting and laughing. Jessica lets go of Oscar and leaves him to call that “someone”. He awkwardly takes a sip from his cup as he waits for Jessica to come back, and when she finally did, she was talking to that freshman girl. The one who did the Juliet monologue from the showing earlier. “Oscar, this is…” 

“Juliet!” Oscar blurted out, cutting Jessica off. 

“I’m sorry?” “Juliet” asked, a bit dumbfounded. 

Oscar smiled his flashy grin, “I’m sorry. I mean, you were the girl who did the Juliet monologue earlier at the showing, right?”

The girl smiled and nodded, “Oh! Yeah. And you must be King Oedipus.” she said with a playful smile on her face, which earned a chuckle from Oscar. 

“Please. No need to be too royal, we’re all friends here. Oedipus would be just fine,” he joked, making both him and Alba laugh. Jessica, somewhat forgotten now, just stands between them with a knowing smile written all across her face.

“No, it’s Oscar actually. Oscar Isaac,” he added, extending his right hand towards her. She takes it and shakes it before replying with her own name, “Alba. Alba O’Hara”

“It’s nice meeting you Alba O’Hara.” he smiled warmly, showing off his dimples. “It’s nice meeting you too, Oscar Isaac.” she replied, matching his smile. A sudden feeling of warmth and familiarity rushed through both of them and filled the space between them.

“OKAY! it's really nice meeting everyone! Does anyone want a refill?” Jessica butted in, trying to cut the tension off, grounding both Alba and Oscar back into reality and making them both laugh.

The rest of the night was spent in between exchanges of quick remarks and playful conversations, introducing each other to other people and just singing and dancing offbeat to whatever song was playing. At some point of the night, their little group even found themselves on the roof of the apartment building, with a guitar and ukulele on hand, and just chilling, jamming, and laughing at each others’ jokes. It was all kind of a blur, to be completely honest, but the fun kind. The kind where you don’t remember much but somehow everything is very memorable. One week in this school and this was the first time Alba felt truly comfortable and just herself. Before she knew it, it was midnight and she had to rush back to her dorm on campus. So she bids Jessica and everyone she just met goodbye, and Oscar offers to walk her home, an offer she obviously could not say no to. Luckily, the seniors who hosted the after party were renting an apartment not too far away from the campus. So under the Manhattan stars, they walked at least a block and a half back to campus. There was a small group of fellow dormers, including Rachel, Alba’s roommate, just in front of them, trying their best to not seem like they’re too drunk. A comfortable silence fell upon Alba and Oscar as they walked up Broadway street. 

“And, we’re here. Meredith Willson Residence Hall,” Oscar announces, breaking their silence. A bigger smile crept upon Alba’s face.

“Thank you, Oscar,” she said, “It was really fun hanging out with you”

“Likewise Juliet,” he replied with a smile, “I guess I’ll see you around campus?”

“I hope so, Oedipus,” she responded sharing the same expression as his’ “Goodnight”

“Goodnight.”


	4. Chapter 4

**2017**

“It was love at first sight!” Taylor geeked out.

“Well… not really” Alba replied, quick to correct her, “I don’t think it’s love at first sight”

“What?! What do you mean not really? I’m not even there, but based on your story, I know there was definitely something there,” Taylor countered, “There was a spark! Some sort of tension or something.” She said suggestively, trying to support her argument, making everyone, including herself, laugh. 

“I guess it was something? Something at first sight, maybe? But trust us Taylor, it wasn’t love,” said Oscar, “at least you know, not yet at that point anyway.”

“But, I did have a crush on him,” Alba admitted, “Not from the first night though. I mean, we become really good friends after that night, best friends even. And as I got to know him better, naturally the bigger the crush got.”

Alba paused and glanced over at Oscar, a soft smile forming on her lips, “But I never told him. Never told anyone really. It was just for me, my own little secret.”

“Why? How come you never told him?” 

“It was a complicated time. I wasn’t sure if he felt the same or even if he felt something. I didn’t want to risk the friendship” Alba explained with a shrug and sigh.

**2002**

Life as a Juilliard drama student was rigorous. All the physically, emotionally, and creatively demanding classes, paired with a 9 am to 10 pm schedule, six days a week., it’s more than enough to drive anyone to the end of their wicks. It is definitely a lot of hard work. It is true that one must be really passionate and driven about the craft of acting to put so much of ones’ self in this program. But besides passion and drive, a good company of friends certainly helps and is definitely a must for anyone to be able to keep their sanity. Alba found that with most of her classmates and even a handful of her upperclassmen. She found that with her roommate, Rachel, her senior friend, Jessica, and of course, Alba found that with Oscar. 

After the night they met, finding each other around campus did not really take much effort, but it was surprising, especially for her. Being a freshman with 40.5 required units for the year, her breaks were limited, but somehow one always synced up with one of his’. The first couple of weeks were unintentional, they just kept running into each other. Some days it would happen at the library, then there were days it was at the 5th floor, then some at the lounge. At first, the run-ins were acknowledged with just a nod and smile at each other and then moving back on with whatever they were previously doing, but then the nods turned into quick banters, then into casual small talks, and eventually the unintentional run-ins became intentional breaks spent together. 

In just one semester spent together, they were able to learn so much about each other. Oscar found out that Alba was Puerto Rican and Irish-American. Born and raised in Washington Heights, New York. Dad is a lawyer, mom is a clinical psychologist/college professor. A surprise baby, the youngest of two daughters with a 10 year age gap, and secretly Abuela's favorite. He learned that she spent her childhood in between extracurricular classes and activities. She did ballet and all the other dances, she did piano, she did acting, taught herself to play the ukulele at age 9, and spent a big chunk of her youth in community theaters dreaming of being on Broadway. He learned about her stories in LaGuardia High, her big crush on Harrison Ford and JGL, and that one week boyfriend she had, who despite being just together for a week, still ended up cheating on her. Oscar learned and fell in love with the fact that alba is a type of flower which also meant dawn or sunrise in spanish, he thought was a perfect name for her.

Just like Oscar, Alba was also learning a lot about him throughout their shared semester. Alba found out that Oscar was Guatemalan and Cuban. Born in Guatemala, raised in Miami, Florida. Son of a doctor, eldest of three, a big mamma’s boy. He’s a Shakespeare nerd, a self-taught musician, and had a pretty successful ska band before entering Juilliard. She learned about his stories of mischief which got him kicked-out of his elementary school, the films he and his dad would film at home with his sister and brother, and his big crush on Jesscia Lange after watching King Kong. And then she also learned about Maria. Childhood sweetheart, girlfriend of seven years, left him and New York that summer. Alba learned how much he really loves her, she learned about their love story and all their stories growing up, she learned how he was still waiting for her to come back even months after she left.

“What makes you so sure she’d come back?” Alba casually asks before taking a bite of her bagel, during one of their shared breaks sitting on the floor at the 5th floor. Oscar looks at her and shrugs, “I don’t know, I guess, I’m just hoping she will?”


	5. Chapter 5

**2003**

The cold March air blows as Alba walks down Broadway street, on a lovely Sunday afternoon, on her way to the Neil Simon Theater. The air was still cold, but not as much, she knew spring was just somewhere around the corner. After a couple more minutes of walking, she finally found herself in front of the theater and with a small crowd already gathered in front of it, queuing to get in. She was searching the crowd trying to find familiar faces, when someone called out her name. She smiled when she saw it was Jessica and a few more friends standing somewhere at the back of the queue. 

“Hey!” Alba greeted, joining her friends, “Where’s Oscar?”

“He isn’t here yet. I thought you guys would come together” replied Jessica.

“No, we weren’t. I was in the dorm all day,” Alba replied before getting her cell phone from her purse, “I’ll give him a call.”

**_“Hi! You’ve reached Oscar, I’m sorry I can’t answer your call right now, but please do leave a message”_ **

“Hey! It's Alba. We’re all here except you, where are you? You better be running on your way here Oscar, you know how expensive these tickets are! (laughs) Call me back when you get this, okay? Bye.”

Fifteen minutes after, there was still no Oscar present nor any call backs from him. The group already gave up their first spot in the queue in the efforts of waiting for him. But the show is about to start in 30 minutes and everyone knows that it’s best for them to finally go inside the theater.

“Alright, I think it’s time for us to go in,” declared Jessica, their friends agreeing with her.

Alba looked at the corner of the street, still positive that he’ll soon show up, “Umm… You guys go ahead, I’ll stay here a bit and wait for him.”

“Alba! He’s a grown man, I’m sure he’ll figure out how to get in. You don’t need to wait out here for him.” one of their friends told her.

“No, it’s okay. I want to,” Alba replied, “And besides, the show isn’t starting for another 20 minutes. I’ll just wait for him for 5 more, if he doesn’t show up after 5, I’ll go in and find you guys.”

“Are you sure?” Jessica asked, giving her a look.

She smiled and nodded, “Yes! Go! Go inside already, I’ll be there in 5.”

Jessica rolled her eyes finally queuing up again, “Fine! But be there in 5 Alba, 5!” 

She let out a quiet snicker and nodded her head yes, “I will mom! Geez. Just go!” 

3 minutes later, there was still no sign of Oscar. Alba kept her eyes peeled at the corner of the street, hoping for him to finally come around, but he never did. She checked her watch to find that she and he only have a minute left before she needs to go in. She takes a big breath and starts counting in her head. 60. 59….48. 47. 46. 45. 44. 43… suddenly she felt a jolt of vibration coming from her purse. She fumbled through it, and started digging, trying to fish for her phone, “Hello?”

“Hi Aly”

“Where the fuck are you?! The play will start in 15 minutes!” Alba playfully answered, “you better be running your ass here Isaac, I’ve been waiting for you outside in the winter cold for 20 freaking minutes.”

“Yeah. I’m actually calling to say that I can’t make it. I’m really sorry,” Oscar replied apologetically.

“What? Why? What happened? Is something wrong? Are you okay?” she replied, with worry coating her voice.

“Yeah, no. I’m fine. It’s just something came up, and I have to deal with it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah I am…” Oscar replied, an uncomfortable silence filling the line between them.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be going inside the theater now.” he said, breaking the silence, “15 minutes right?”

“Yeah”

“Can you also tell Jess and everyone that I’m sorry?”

“Okay”

“Okay…” he replied, for the first time since they met, he was unsure of what to say next, “Hey Alba, I really am sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Okay…”

“Okay.” she replied before the line was cut off. 

She sighed, not entirely sure what she’s feeling. Was she mad? Worried? Maybe a mixture of both? She wasn’t sure, what she does know is that she needs to get in the theater now, before she’s no longer allowed to. So she does, taking a couple more big breaths in an effort to calm herself back down, before going in.


	6. Chapter 6

**2003**

The following day, Alba still didn’t see or hear anything from Oscar for most of that Monday. No call, no text, no campus run-ins, no nothing. That was until her last break of the day, Alba sat on the floor at the 5th floor, earphones on, typing away on her computer. She was working on her liberal arts homework, when a bag of chips fell on her laptop keyboard. She looked up and found Oscar standing in front of her with a sandwich bag, a medium sized cup on his hands and an apologetic smile on his face. She removes her earphones and Oscar extends his arms, offering her what he was holding. 

“Hi” he said, “these are for you.”

“What are these?”

“Peace offering. Apology gift. PB&J sandwich, your favorite chips, and sweet tea.”

“I’m not mad at you,” she replied with a soft chuckle.

“Well in that case, it’s really more to appease myself for yesterday,” he replied, taking a seat next to her on the floor, “So please, just take it. I made the sandwich myself.”

Alba rolled her eyes and shook her head, “Fine. I do really like your PB&Js.” 

“Thank you!” he exhaled loudly, making her giggle as she opened the sandwich bag.

“I really am so sorry about yesterday Alba. I’m sorry for bailing. I’m sorry for making you wait for 20 minutes on a cold day. Please forgive me and stop being mad at me.”

“I’m not mad,” she protested, trying to convince him, “just disappointed.”

“Oh but that’s so much worse!” he fake cried, making her laugh.

“I’m kidding! It’s fine.” Alba replied as she takes a bite from the sandwich, “besides, you’re the one who missed Hairspray, so your loss really.” Oscar smiled, feeling a rush of relief wash over his bones. 

“Yup. definitely my loss,” he replied, getting his own sandwich from his bag.

“What happened with you yesterday anyway?” Alba asked nonchalantly, taking a quick glance at him, catching how he tensed up a bit after her question, “Is it something bad?”

“No. No, not really.” he replied quietly, “she, um, she came back.”

Alba’s head snapped from looking at her sandwich to looking at Oscar, not sure if she heard him correctly, “She?”

“Yeah, Ria. Ria came back yesterday,” Oscar continued, “I was leaving the apartment to meet you guys, but when I opened the door, she was there.”

“Oh…” was all she could muster to say to his piece of news.

Oscar exhaled, “Yeah, we talked all night, and then we talked even more, and yeah…”

“Why are you sad?” she asked, feeling his heaviness in the air.

“I’m not. I’m not sad, I’m happy. Maybe a little shocked, but happy.”

“Are you sure you’re learning something from this school? Because that’s some terrible ass acting over there Isaac.” Alba teasingly scoffs, trying to lift the mood. Oscar smiles.

“Seriously though, why do you seem like you’re not happy about this? It’s Ria! She came back!”

“What makes you think that I’m not?”

“I don’t know… What I do know is that I’ve known you for less than a year and a lot of that time, I spent listening to you not shut up about her! Ria this, Ria that, “Oh I’m so in love with Maria” and then suddenly, THIS! This is the saddest I’ve heard you talk about Ria, the great childhood sweetheart of your life,” explained Alba, “I’ve known you for 6 months, all you ever wished for during those 6 months was for her to come back to you, and she did. But here you are, sounding like you’re carrying the burden of the entire world on your shoulders. So what’s wrong Oscar?”

Oscar shrugs and sighs heavily, “I don’t know what’s wrong either Aly, I guess I’ve always thought I’d be much happier when this day finally comes.”

“Well why aren’t you happy? Don’t you love her anymore?”

“I do. I’m sure that I still do. I mean, we had 7 years, and 7 years just don’t fade away that quickly.”

“Then what is it? Has she changed? Is she different from what you remember her to be?”

Oscar looked at Alba with a stern look on his face, still not sure if it was Ria who has changed and who he no longer recognizes, or if it was him who was different from what he remembers himself to be, “I don’t know.”

Alba sighs, “Maybe she did change. I mean, it's been months since she left, and people change a lot over time. And that’s not always a bad thing. Maybe this is actually a good thing. The perfect chance for you guys to get to know each other again and fall in love all over again. Like a reset button. Instead of a pause button, it’s a reset. Makes your entire relationship brand new! Right?”

Oscar looks at her and half smiles, “I guess. I guess you’re right.”

Alba smiles, proud of herself for being able to get a smile from Oscar, even if it was just a small one. “You’ll figure it out,” she reassures, gently elbowing Oscar beside her, “By the way, I think it’d be the perfect time for me to finally meet her.” she said, taking another bite from her sandwich. Oscar smiles wider, “yeah.”


	7. Chapter 7

**2017**

“So yeah, Ria and I got back together after an eight month break, and we were together for another six more years after that.” Oscar shared to the party. Everyone in the room suddenly quiet, shocked and not quite sure how to respond, especially Taylor.

“I’m sorry, not sure if I just missed this earlier, but why did she leave in the first place?” Joe asked, finally breaking the shocked silence of the party.

“She left to “find herself”, she moved to Callifornia and you know, did things I guess.” Oscar replied, standing from his seat and walking over the mobile bar to refill his drink.

“How did you feel about it?” Taylor asked Alba, “about them getting back together?”

Alba shrugged, “What can I do? We weren’t dating. I wasn’t even sure if he felt anything for me.”

“She tried being friends with her though,” Oscar chuckled, still at the mobile bar. Alba facepalms and started shaking her head.

“She hated me! For months, every time we’d see each other, I felt like she was murdering me in her mind!” said Alba, making everyone laugh, “But eventually it died down, we did become friends, especially when I started dating Nate.”

“Ahhhh, Nate’” Oscar sighed, taking a seat next to his wife again, “the rockstar.” 

“Who’s Nate?”

“Nate was the first person I ever liked after crushing on this guy.” Alba explained, elbowing Oscar on the side. “I met Nate in 2004, in a bar, he had a band, and they were playing a set that night. And that Taylor, was love at first sight and a bit of a whirlwind romance.”

“It was. I was there. The sparks almost blew the entire place down,” LoRo sarcastically commented, drawing a snort from Oscar and an eye roll and a smile from Alba.

“Yeah, and you know. We went out on a date the next day and then one thing led to another and then, life. Life kind of just happened after that,” shared Alba, “Oscar graduated in ‘05, I graduated in ‘06 and Nate and I moved in together in an apartment up in Harlem the same year. And yeah, adulthood I guess. Life kind of just ran its course and on autopilot.”

“We remained best friends though, Aly and I. Of course we didn’t get to see each other as much as we wanted to, because of all the rehearsals, and the filmmings, and whatnot. But we were always there for each other, especially for the important parts.” Oscar added, Alba nodded in agreement, “We’d usually meet up somewhere in town whenever time permits and we’re both free. Weusually stay at whatever restaurant or bar we were in until they kick us out, just talking, laughing, and catching up.”

“Yeah. My life during those times was crazy. It was fun, that’s for sure. But it was a whirlwind. Much like my relationship with Nate,” Alba shared, reminiscing about her past, “Nate and I, we were fireworks, beautiful but short-fused. We were both so stubborn and passionate about everything, we drove each other crazy. We’d fight about the stupidest things and then make up, and then find another thing to fight about, and restart the entire cycle all over again. We were just a couple of babies, who didn’t understand how relationships work and were too stubborn to want to grow up.”

“Nate and I were together for 4 years, but honestly, I think I stopped loving him at 3, and I was just too hard headed and full of pride to let go and give up on us. I thought giving up and admitting defeat means weakness, and I didn’t want to be weak. But the thing about fireworks is that, even though they are beautiful from afar, they're nothing but flaming embers dying spectacularly in the skies. And we were dying, every stupid fight was taking a toll on us and we were just too stubborn to admit it. I guess the thing about whirlwind romances are, they usually don’t last forever, at some point in life, you’d have to grow up. And I did, one day I just woke up and I realized how tired I was and how much I longed for some sort of stability in that aspect of my life. I wanted to know what it feels like to go home and not fight about milk or whatever mundane thing it was for the day. I just wanted my peace back… My wake up call was probably when I found out that this guy was getting married.” Alba narrated, pointing, tilting her head towards her husband’s direction.

The room was silent, Taylor and Joe most especially, slack-jawed in surprise. 

“Yeah, I was engaged for a while. I proposed to Ria, sometime in December 2007. I mean by that time, we’ve been back together for like 4 years? And together for around 11 or 12-ish years in total? So yeah, naturally I thought it was about time to take the next step.” Oscar casually shared, again breaking the silence of their audience, “Alba was one of the first people I called after I proposed, second only to my mom.”

“Oh my God. This story is insane, so many twists and turns.” Taylor groaned, still trying to process everything. Oscar chuckles..

“You think you can handle another twist?” he teased.

Taylor sighed and shuffled in her seat, “Okay, hit me.”

“Ms. O’Hara over here,” he announced, glancing over at his wife, “also got engaged, and I was there to witness it when she did.”


	8. Chapter 8

**2008**

Alba looks out the window of the cab she was riding, distracting herself with the streetlights and the view as she made her way to Juliette, a restaurant somewhere in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Today was her and Nate’s four year anniversary, and she had no idea why he was insisting on them celebrating it over in Brooklyn, when they could just do it somewhere in Manhattan just the same and even save them the trouble of traveling. But whatever reason he had, she just knew it wasn’t worth going into another fight, especially not at 8 in the morning and just before she leaves to face a full day of rehearsals for her new musical, so she just gave in and let him win. Of course he was ecstatic and told her to just meet him there at 7 pm. A supercut of her very tiring day played in her head until out of nowhere, her phone suddenly started ringing from her purse, snapping her out from her quiet trance. 

“Hi, LoRo what’s up?”

“Hey Aly! Where are you?”

“I’m in a cab on my way to Brooklyn. Why? What’s up?”

“Oh! Well, ummm… nothing. I was just, ummm… on my way to your apartment? Yeah, to show you something. But I guess I just won’t push through, since you’re not home.”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Is it important? It’s Nate and I’s anniversary and we’re celebrating, and I thought you knew…”

“Oh no! No! It's okay, it can wait. It’s my fault for not telling you earlier anyway. It’s fine. I’ll just see you some other time, okay? Bye!” Logan rushed before cutting off their call.

“Okay? Bye?” Alba replied, a bit confused with the bizarre conversation that just happened. Luckily she was already where she needed to be. She hands her payment over to the driver and slides off the cab. She fixes her coat and starts making her way to the door of the restaurant. Alba walked in the doors and the moment she did, the entire room yelled, “Surprise!”

Startled and confused, she just stood there frozen, until Nate went to her and hugged her. “Happy anniversary, baby!” he eagerly greeted.

“What’s happening?” 

“I did this for you,” he replied, “It's a surprise anniversary party, with all of our friends.”

Alba looked around the room and he was right, it was filled with familiar and beloved faces, all smiling and cheering. “I rented the whole shop, it’s ours for the entire night until midnight,” Nate declared, earning a cheer from the crowd as music and chatter starts to fill the room. 

“Why?” she asked, still overwhelmed and confused. 

“Because it’s our 4th anniversary, silly, I wanted us to celebrate it properly and with the people dear to us.” he replied, giving her a quick kiss on the lips, “Come.”

Nate pulls her away from the doorway and into a sea of friends all smiling and greeting her happy anniversary, all she could do was smile back and say a quiet “thanks”, as Nate leads her to somewhere. Nate stops somewhere in the middle of the room and he looks at her, a happy grin written on his face.

“I was originally planning to do this sometime a bit later, but you, here with me right now. Us, being surrounded by people we love, fuck it.” he declared, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. Alba looked around and found everyone watching them, and she started to feel a bit uncomfortable, unsure of what will happen next. And much like what has happened to her for the last 10 minutes of her evening so far, she would have never seen what happened next coming, not in a million years.

“Alba Eunice O’Hara, I have loved you for four years now. I know our relationship may not be perfect, but it’s true and it’s us, and I don’t ever want to buttheads with anyone else for the rest of my life,” Nate emotionally proclaimed, genuine smile on his face, tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes, his body slowly sinking down into one knee, and his hand trembling, holding a small white box, “So, would you please do me the incredible honor of becoming mine forever? Alba O’Hara, will you marry me?”

“Will you marry me” are four simple words that made Alba’s entire world run in slow motion for a second. “Will you marry me” she played it back over and over her head, no. She wanted to scream no and just run away. “Will you marry me?” His question echoed through her head, as she looked around the room and everyone was all smiles, excited, waiting for her to say yes. “Will you marry me?” she sees Nate on bended knee, all smiles eagerly anticipating her response. She felt a tremendous pressure drop on her shoulders and her heartbeat on her throat, rattling so loud and wildly, she thought it could jump out of her chest at any moment. “Will you marry me?” her nerves started to get the best of her. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes” 

The entire room roared in gleeful cheers. Nate jumped back to his feet and quickly pulled her into a tight embrace before placing a kiss on her. 

“I love you so much,” he said, sliding the ring on her ring finger before giving another kiss, this time on her forehead. Alba just stood there, slack-jawed, frozen and still in shock with everything that was happening to her at the moment.

“She’s mine!” Nate shouted with his arm around her shoulder, everyone in the room cheered and congratulated them. She tried her best to put on a smile.

After Nate’s proposal, everyone had a nice sit down dinner before the “party” eventually started. The next hour was spent thanking and hugging everyone congratulating them on their engagement. It was exhausting. Thankfully an opportunity to take a break and get some air, presented itself to Alba, and she unabashedly took it. Quickly grabbing her coat hanging from her seat, she snuck up to the stairs leading to the rooftop balcony of Juliette. 


	9. Chapter 9

**2008**

There was nobody at the rooftop balcony when she got up there, normally it’s open for patrons too, but winter is just at its end and the cold air isn’t fit for al fresco dining just yet, so it’s still temporarily closed. Which was the perfect safe haven Alba needed. She wraps her coat tightly around her as she makes her way to the fence of the rooftop looking down at the street. Once she reached the fence, she closed her eyes and took three deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. 1… 2… 3… she opens her eyes and unexpected tears spill from them. 

She quickly wipes them out and tells herself that she’s fine, scared that if she doesn't stop now, she just might end up having a full blown breakdown, and she can’t have that. Because whether she liked it or not, at some point she’d have to face everyone downstairs again, and she really does not have any energy left to lie about why her eyes are all puffy and red. So she stopped, and just tried to shift her focus to the street down below. As she did, she caught a glimpse of her left hand gripping on the cold metal rail, now freshly adorned with a yellow diamond ring, and she exhales, still unable to believe everything that just happened to her in just a couple of hours.

“Mind if I join you?” a familiar voice calls out, Alba turns around and sees Oscar in his winter coat, with two drinks on his hands and a knowing look on his face.

“Please. I’d be real mad if you didn’t” she replied with her first genuine smile of the night, making him smile too, as he made his way next to her. 

“Got you your favorite,” he said, handing her one of the glasses he was holding.

“Thank you.”

“What are you doing here Aly? It’s freezing here, and your party is downstairs.”

“I know,” she replied, before taking a sip from her drink, “I just needed some air, I guess. And a break from everyone and everything.”

Oscar nodded in agreement, “Hear, hear” he replied, raising his glass.

“Hey! Congratulations to you too Mr. You are a betroth man as well,” Alba said, in an effort to change the subject, “Where’s Ria? I still haven’t seen her tonight.”

“Thanks,” he laughs, “She’s actually downstairs, showing off the ring. Which is a very weird and probably a very rude thing to do, given that this is YOUR engagement party. You should totally be mad at her.”

Alba laughed with her best friend and started shaking her head, “No. No, please, just let her be. She’s happy and proud to FINALLY be engaged, after what? A century of dating you? I mean god, it’s about damn time Isaac, let her have a moment.”

“How about you? Shouldn’t you be happy and proud too?”

Alba looked at him, her playful smile quickly disappeared. So many things she wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him that she was terrified, that she feels lost and stuck, that she doesn’t know if she is happy anymore. She wanted to tell him how much she wanted to say no earlier and just run away, but the pressure of everyone in the room waiting for her to say yes got to her.

“Yeah, I guess I should be.” 

“But?”

She shrugs her shoulders, “I guess I’m just overwhelmed.”

He stares at her, carefully studying her, knowing that she’s not being completely honest.

“When did you know you wanted to marry Ria?” Alba asked, breaking the silence that fell upon them.

“Well, we’ve been together for 12 years, so…” Oscar replied with a shrug, “marriage and kids seem to be the typical next step after dating for some time. And she’s not ready for the kids part, so I guess marriage it is then, plus the expectations of her family back home, and you know, all that shit.”

“Does she make you feel at peace?”

“At peace?”

“Do you know that my Abuela used to tell me that fairy tales are bullshit?”

‘Your abuela said bullshit?” he replied with a tone of amusement in his voice.

“Yes, she did. She said bullshit,” she replied with a soft giggle, “she said it’s good for bedtime but bad for the heart. She told me that you don’t know you’re with the right person with sparks and fireworks, because sparks and fireworks, beautiful as they may be, always burn out in the end. No, Abuela said that you’d know you’re with the right person if they can make you feel at peace, even in the shittiest of times.”

“Your abuela sounds like a wise woman” 

She looks at him and out of nowhere her tears just started pouring out, “I haven’t felt peace in a long time Oscar. I feel stuck and I don’t know what to do,” she confessed as more tears burst out and she started trembling. Oscar was shocked but was quick on his feet. He quickly grabs the glass from Alba’s hand and sets it and his’ on the table nearest to them and swiftly redirects his focus back to Alba who’s now at a verge of hyperventilation.

“Hey, hey, hey” he coos as he cradles her face in between his palms, “Alba look at me, you’re hyperventilating.”

His left hand slips off her face and grabs one of her hands before placing it on his chest inside his coat, “Jesus! You’re freezing.”

“Alba can you feel my heartbeat?” 

Alba nods, tears still uncomfortably flowing from her eyes and her breaths still abnormally quick and shallow.

“Okay, try to focus on my heartbeat, do you feel the rise and fall of my chest? Breath with me Alba, try to breathe with me.”

She nods again, this time with her eyes shut tight, trying her best to calm herself down and follow what Oscar was instructing her to do. Oscar gently pulls her head closer and rests it on his’ until they are just inches away from each other and sharing the same air. He kept his breaths deep and steady, and she tried her best to match his and calm herself down. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, and he didn’t let her go until her breaths were close to normal and her tears stopped falling. 

“You’re okay. It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay,” he reassured her, slowly pulling his head away and giving her a kiss on her forehead before, pulling her into his warm embrace, “you’re gonna be okay Alba, I promise you, you will.”


	10. Chapter 10

**2017**

“My engagement lasted for 2 months. I know I should’ve probably ended it sooner, but then again, stubborn,” Alba shared, “But one day, I guess, I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I sort of ran away. I went somewhere, didn’t tell anyone except Logan and my director, because I was workshopping a musical that time. But yeah, I stayed there for 5 days, cleared my head, listened to my heart, thought about the next steps I should take, and when I came back, I finally had the courage to talk to Nate. I broke off the engagement, returned the ring, broke up with him, moved out. It was one of the scariest things and the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, but it truly was liberating, and things were really looking up after that. I eventually got my own apartment up in Washington Heights, then my musical opened off and on broadway, and for the first time after a long time, I was at peace and genuinely happy.”

“Wow. That was really strong of you, I mean, I get it. Walking out of a long term relationship could be really scary. So good for you Alba!” Taylor gushed, “And look how beautifully it turned out to be, now you’re with the absolute love of your life.”

Alba grinned and looked over at her husband who was also staring at her with the same look of adoration written across his face, just like her, “Yeah, I guess it did turn out beautifully well.”

“But wait, that’s not the end of your story. He’s still engaged.” Taylor called out, pointing at Oscar.

“Sweetheart, you’re dreaming if you think we’re close to over, trust me we’re not.” Logan butted in, everyone in the room laughed. “I warned you, the ultimate will-they-won’t-they couple!”

“You’re right, I was most definitely still engaged when Alba broke off hers,” Oscar said, replying to Taylor’s remark, “I actually won’t be single for two more years after the end of Alba’s engagement.”

“So what happened? What happened between that period? That’s like two whole years?” Taylor asked, confused and curious once again.

“A lot actually, but mainly John happened.” Alba answered.

“Ey! Finally. My boy John!” Nick cheered, “This is a part I kind of do know, because I was kinda there to witness it all.”

“John?”

“Yup, I dated John for some time. It was through him I was able to meet Nick and other very funny people I’m still friends with, like Seth and Bill, and Andy.” explained Alba, Nick nodding in agreement across the room with a proud smile on his face.

“After Nate, I met John after watching one of his shows, and it was something at first banter. We clicked immediately,” Alba started, “We both didn’t want to be in a “serious relationship” at that time so we agreed to just casually and non-exclusively date. We thought we were doing it correctly, but apparently we weren’t.”

“Yeah. Those two. With all their “casual, non-exclusive” bullshit that they kept saying that and announcing that to everyone, but in reality, they weren’t even seeing other people that time. It was literally just them and for like a year and a half.” Nick ranted, earning a laugh from everyone, most especially from Alba.

“I’m sorry okay! I think we both had very bad trust issues at that time so we didn’t want to “commit” or seem like we were committing, but at the same time, we really did enjoy each other’s company and wanted to hang out a lot” Alba defended, “But Nick is right. We were together for a year and a half and it was a pretty chill and calm relationship, especially in comparison with the one I had with Nate. John and I, we never fought. He did his thing, I did my thing, we supported each other throughout, made each other laugh a lot, cooked Sunday brunch together, met and became friends with each other’s friends, and all those other couple stuff. We would even go on double dates with other couple friends, including Oscar and Ria.”

“But?” Taylor asked. 

“But?”

“Yeah, it sounds to me like there’s a but coming.”

“Right. Everything was okay, BUT… but we weren’t in love.” 

“We were happy and we genuinely did care for each other, but there was always something lacking. We both knew it. At first, it seemed like it didn’t really matter, like we didn’t really care much for it, we were just happy being each other’s company. And I think at that time, that was really what we both needed. Company and time. Time to heal, time to learn how to trust again, and just restore our faith in relationships.” Alba shared, “And we did. I fully credit John for teaching me to believe in love again, even though we weren’t really in love, we do love each other. We were so secure and content with what we had, but also very aware of what we didn’t. John and I knew there could be something so much more than what we already have. And though it’s a crazy and scary thing to do, we knew we shouldn’t just settle with us, no matter how comfortable and safe we were in each other’s arms. So, we both decided to break up and really try to give “being in love” a chance again.”

“Can I just say, it was a really weird period for us, as their friends when they broke up,” Nick butted in.

“Why?” asked Joe.

“They handled their break up better than we did as their friends. They were so calm and collected, meanwhile us, we were all freaking out. No fucking clue on how to handle their shit whatsoever.” Nick explained with so much passion, it broke the room in fits of laughter, “They were both so mature, they remained friends after. And not some bullshit “we’ll still remain friends” celebrity horse crap. No. They really are still good friends up until now.”

“Yes we are.” Alba replied with a confident smug on her face, “in fact, John doesn’t credit me enough, but, I was actually the one who set him up with Anna. And surprise, surprise, they ended up getting married. Because of me! I was a bridesmaid in their wedding, they were in our wedding. Friendship!”

“Incredible,” Taylor commented half-giggle, “What happened next after you and John broke up?”

“I was single. Like really single, for the first time after more than half a decade. It was fun. I honestly enjoyed it.”

“What about Oscar?”

Oscar smiled and took a sip of his drink, “Like I said, two years.”


	11. Chapter 11

**2010**

Alba smiles and waves goodbye to the camera before turning her skype call with her agent and her laptop off and standing up to catapult herself to her bed. She was tired. She’s been reading scripts all day and having to make decisions on what next projects to take on the entire week. She is in need of a break. Maybe a quick nap would work? Perhaps a beer? A nap sounded nice to have at the moment and so she decided that’s what she was gonna do. She closed her eyes, ready to drift away to dreamland, when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. It flew open and came Logan peeking in, with her cellphone that she left in the living room to charge, on his hand. 

“You have a call” he said walking nearer her bed and handing her her phone.

“Thanks”

“I’ll be out in a few, do you need anything more for next week’s event?” he asked and she replied by shaking her head no, “alright, I’ll see you next week then?”

She nodded and blew him a kiss, “Thank you LoRo” 

He smiled and blew her a kiss too before leaving her room, “Have fun this weekend, but not too much! Wrap before you Tap” he called out as he left her apartment.

Alba rolls her eyes and finally presses her phone on her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey” a deep familiar voice replied, making her smile widely.

“Hey you!”

“Hi”

“Hi! It’s been forever. I was starting to worry that you died or something.” she teased, hearing him chuckle in reply.

“Well, surprise! I’m not dead yet, you may now officially start rejoicing,” he jokes, “But yeah, it’s been a while, and I was starting to feel a bit guilty.”

“Really? Well that’s good.” she laughs.

“Yeah, that’s why I called actually. I was wondering if you're free tonight? Maybe we could have dinner?”

“You’re back in town?”

“Yup.”

“How long?”

“A bit longer this time, needed a break.”

“That’s good. I miss your stupid face,” she replied with a grin on her face, unable to hide her genuine happiness, “and yeah, I’m totally free tonight.”

“Great! See you at Patsy’s at 7?”

Alba checks the alarm clock on her bedside table and sees she still has 2 hours to prepare, “Okay.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then. Bye.”

“Bye.” she replied before rushing out of bed and preparing.

Oscar arrived at the restaurant first but it didn’t take long before Alba came in too. The first few minutes of seeing each other again after months of not being able to, consisted of playful banters and exchanges of quick remarks. The rest of the evening was filled with stories and laughter, both trying to keep each other up to date with their lives. Oscar told stories about his work. He shared stories of his experience working with Madonna as his director, how he needed to learn how to do a Russian accent for her movie. He also talked about his time on the set of Drive, working with Ryan Gosling and how nice it was to be able to work with this up and coming british actress named Carey. And how he hates L.A. and feels like he could never ever bring himself to live there, even if his life depended on it. 

Alba also had a few stories about work, like how fun it is to do press junkets with Channing Tatum, and how she’s planning to reprise one of her Broadway roles when it plays in Puerto Rico for a month in November. She also talked about how she was able to set John up on a blind date with her friend/hair and make up stylist, how well they are doing together, and how she feels like she’s a freakin’ love guru for setting those two up. Oscar thought she was weird for setting her ex up, but then again she wouldn’t be the Alba he knew and loved if she wasn’t even just a tad bit weird. Three hours, a shared plate of stuffed calamari, two plates of chicken parmigiana, and two plates of cannolis later, they were both stuffed and very happy. But it was only 10 pm, the night was still young and there are still stories waiting to be shared, and so they decided to walk the food off and make their way to Tanner Smith’s, a bar just a couple of blocks away.

“By the way, how’s the wedding planning going?” Alba casually asked as they walked together, on their way to the bar, not really paying much attention, “It’s been what? 2 years? My best woman tux rotting Isaac!”

Oscar’s smile flattens and he starts nervously running his fingers through his growing buzz cut hair, he clears his throat, “Actually, the wedding is off.”

Alba stops dead on her tracks and stares at him in shock and disbelief, “What?”

“Yeah. We called it off. Ria and I broke up.” Oscar replied, trying his best to keep his voice calm and collected, as he continues to walk forward.

Alba jogs to try to catch up to his pace, “What? Since when?”

“Since Feb.”

“What! You called off the wedding 8 months ago and you’re just telling me now?”

“I got busy.”

“Busy?? Busy with what? You’re so busy that you can’t even spare 5 minutes to give me a call? Or a text or even a fucking email to tell me that hey, BTdubs, the wedding is cancelled?!”

“I don’t know Alba! I was busy with work. And life. And trying to get my shit together.” Oscar snaps, stopping from his tracks and looking at Alba in the eyes for the first time in the last 5 minutes, tears slowly cascading down his face, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know how to. And if I’m being honest, I didn’t want to tell anybody. I just wanted to disappear you know. I didn’t tell you because I know we both have so much going on in our lives right now and I knew, I knew you didn’t have time for my shit.”

Alba stares at him, feeling guilty with how selfish she was just a few moments ago and also heartbroken for seeing her best friend like this. She pulls him into a hug and wraps her arms tightly around him, “I would have made time for your shit.”

Oscar rests his head the crook of her neck as he just lets himself be engulfed by the warmth and comfort of her embrace, eyes shut close as tears continue to fall from his eyes. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, not really giving a fuck that they were in the middle of a semi-busy sidewalk in Manhattan, New York, with people just passing them by. 

“You’re okay Oscar,” she whispers to him, “You’ll be okay. I promise you, you will.”

“I’m sorry,” he said as he pulls away from her, “I know I should have told you. I just--”

“It’s okay.’ she cuts him off, “you don’t need to apologize.”

He smiles and she reaches her hand up to his cheek, her thumbs wiping away the tears at the brims of his eyes, threatening to spill again.

“Let's go get some booze.”

Oscar chuckles nodding his head yes, a happier smile forming on his lips, “Yes. Please.”

Alba wraps her arm around his waist as he wraps his on her shoulder, continuing their walk towards Tanner Smith’s.


	12. Chapter 12

**2010**

The night they spent at Tanner Smith’s was long and packed with stories, but not of sad and tear-filled ones. Alba sensed that Oscar wasn’t ready to share the nitty-gritty of his separation with the great childhood sweetheart of his life, so she didn’t try to pry even further. Instead she tried to make him feel better by talking about other things, from the bizarre to the mundane, she let them all rip in the efforts to make her best friend smile. She did, of course the alcohol helped too, but it was mainly her that made him feel better that night. She was the break, the fresh breath of air, the safe haven he needed from the cruel world and life he’s been living for almost the entire year already. And for the first time in eight months, he was at peace, he was home.

In time, Alba started to learn the details of his breakup. She learned how it started with Ria wanting to call off the wedding and when he asked why, it became a huge fight that led to her demanding him to choose between her and whatever future family they may have, and his career. She learned how hurt he was to hear Ria ask him to choose between his dreams and the future family he’s also dreamed of since he was a young boy. Oscar told Alba how Ria said he wasn’t the same person she fell in love with years ago, how she said he has changed and how she wasn’t sure she even knows him anymore. She learned about how Oscar agreed that he has changed, of course he has, especially after she broke his heart the first time and left him years ago. She learned how Oscar asked Ria if she could learn to accept and love him for who he is now and stop holding onto their past, because that boy is far long gone and what’s left is this man trying his best. 

Alba learned how Ria didn’t say yes and how shattered he was when she handed him the ring back. She learned how traumatic it was for him to see her walkout of his life again, to watch her pack all of her things like she did so many years ago. How horrifying it is to relive one of the most heartbreaking moments of his life, only this time it was much worse. This time he was certain that she was never coming back.

Oscar spent the next months after the breakup hustling, working his ass off and throwing himself in every project he could get his hands on. Auditioning for and filming movie after movie, flying from one city to another, living in his suitcase and different hotel rooms, never really stopping. Afraid that when he does, all the pain will just come rushing through, so he just ran away. He ran away from himself by reading and learning script after script, everyday a different character, a different person that could mask the broken man underneath it all. He ran away from his family, avoiding them at all costs after telling them about the breakup, not visiting home even on his dear mother’s birthday. He ran away from his friends by never answering calls, just disappearing and not reaching out to anyone. He ran away from home, never wanting to go back to New York, no matter how much he missed it.

Eventually he got tired of running. One day, after another last day in another movie set, he just woke up. He woke in some hotel, in some city, restless and yearning for some piece of home. So he got a plane ticket to Florida and went back to his hometown for the first time in months. He was welcomed by healing hugs and the soothing comfort of his family’s love and his childhood home. And though Florida may be hot and sticky some days, and then suddenly wet and stormy on other days, it was what he needed. It gave him rest and the spring of his healing. 

After a few weeks in Florida, he decided it was to finally go back home to his beloved city, so back to New York he finally went. Unfortunately, unlike Florida, New York welcomed him with a slap of his harsh new reality, especially when he got back to the half empty apartment he used to share with his great childhood love. He has always known that he had to move at some point, but the worries of that and all the emotions threatening to engulf him, has proven too overwhelming to deal with at the moment, so he throws his luggages somewhere in the apartment and calls the one person in New York he has missed most. The rest of that day, as they say, was history. 

After their emotional rollercoaster of a night out, Alba offered him to stay with her, while he was haunting for a new apartment. She had a one bedroom apartment, but the living room was pretty big and cozy, and she did have a pretty comfortable couch that turns into a pretty comfortable bed right smack in the middle of it. Normally he wouldn’t accept, afraid to make himself a burden to any of his friends, but he was desperate not to stay at that haunted apartment of his, so he did take Alba’s offer and temporarily moved in the very next day. They spent the remainder of that year inseparable. Even after Oscar finally found a new apartment down in Brooklyn after staying at Alba’s for three weeks, they still managed to hang out and see each other almost everyday. It felt like their Juilliard days all over again. The more days passed, the more Oscar started feeling better and more like himself again, wounds were gradually healing, horrors were slowly fading, and hope and peace were steadily growing within him again.

“You would not believe who just called me!” Alba announced as she walked back in Oscar’s new living room, after taking a call in his bedroom.

“Who? Oprah?” he teased absentmindedly, as he continued to strum on his guitar and scribble words on his notebook beside him.

“Pft. I wish. But no,” she replied, taking a seat next to him on his couch before starting to ramble, “It was Channing! He was explaining to me this movie he’s gonna produce and he offered me a role in it. So of course, I said yes. I mean, I should have probably ran it with my agent first, but you know, Chan’s a friend and his pitch for the movie sounded pretty cool, so I was like yeah. I guess, fuck it. I’m totally doing it.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re talking about Channing Tatum right?”

“Is there any other?” she replied with a judgemental grimace on her face. Oscar makes a face in reply, she giggles and slaps him. They laugh.

“No, but seriously, by any chance, is the movie he offered to you called 10 Years?”

“Oh my god. YES! How did you know?”

“Because I’m doing that movie with him.” Oscar replied with a happy grin on his face.

Alba stared at him in disbelief, mouth hanging open in shock, “No shit?!”

“No shit! I swear to god,” he answered laughing and with his hands up in the air, “that’s why I’m writing a song, it’s for the movie.”

“Oh my god this is so exciting!” she squealed, “our first project together!”

He smiled widely, feeling absolutely thrilled, excited, and all those other happy and positive emotions a person could feel, “I am so fucking excited.”


	13. Chapter 13

**2011**

Despite being in the same conservatory together for 3 long years and being best of friends for almost a decade at that point, 10 Years was Oscar and Alba’s very first collaborative project together. Not only were they in the same movie together for the first time, it would also be the first time they’d be working opposite each other, as each other’s love interest. He played Reeves, a charming, chart-topping musician, who was part of the popular crowd back in high school. She played Elise, a dainty and quiet high school wallflower turned real estate agent. Their story line is of two people who could’ve been something more, but didn’t because they were both too afraid in the past, reconnecting and maybe reigniting whatever they might have had between them. 

Admittedly, at first, both Oscar and Alba were a bit anxious about their upcoming roles, especially knowing that they do have a somewhat intimate scene together by the end of the film. It’s not that they’re not used to doing intimate scenes, no of course not, they are both professional actors who were trained in one of the best drama schools in America after all. At that point in their career, they’ve had their fair share of intimate scenes, both on stage and in film, some far more explicit than the one being asked of them for this particular movie. They both knew how “that scene” works, how clinical and mechanical it could all be, like a well choreographed dance, every move, every angle was calculated and directed. What they didn’t know was how to maneuver through it as a couple of best friends who have a decade worth of shared history. 

Both Oscar and Alba felt the worry, but none wanted to disclose it to anyone in the production, not even to each other. It was like they both kind of just said “fuck it” and went through the whole thing as two very professional actors. Besides, they won’t film that scene until towards the end of the production anyway, so why worry about it now? They both knew it was better to cross that bridge when they actually got there. 

So they buried their worries away and just played their parts, and played it well and beautifully they did. The two of them were magic. They were both oozing chemistry and charisma in every damn take they do and every single frame they were in. Everyone could see it, the producers, their director, their co-stars, the extras, the crewmen on set, hell, even the blind would probably be able to feel the tension and spark they exude in every scene they’re in.

Of course, with chemistry as strong and obvious as the one they shared, it did not go unnoticed by their keen and unforgiving co-stars. So naturally in between takes and days off, they’d be the subject of constant shipping and teasing, and were bombarded with questions, even Hollywood tabloids would love to know the answers to. 

Questions like: “Did you guys date?”, “How come you never dated?”, “Do you like him?”, “What do you mean you’ve never seen her that way?”, “Would you consider dating now?”. So many freakin’ questions, enough to drive anyone crazy, but not them. They just smiled and teased back. Never really directly answering any of the questions, they’d usually just make a face, laugh it off and say, “I guess we’re just really great actors.” or “we’ve been best friends for almost 10 years, so of course we have chemistry.” and just move on to enjoy the casual cast banter with everyone else.

Everything was all fun and games, everyone so easy going and chill, until the day they both dreaded finally came. Oscar was seated on the couch in his trailer, feet up on the ottoman in front of it, strumming random melodies on the guitar on his lap, waiting to be called to do their scene. Originally he was playing playstation with his personal assistant, Jay, but he went out to go somewhere to get something, he thinks? He wasn’t really sure, he was too distracted (or at least trying to be) to remember what he said before leaving him all alone. 

A soft knock coming from outside his trailer door caught his attention, “It’s open” he called out, the door swung open and in came Alba.

“Hey”

“Hey,” he replied, shuffling on the couch, trying to sit more properly, “Come in-- unless, it’s go time?”

Alba chuckled, shaking her head no as she made her way to the counter across him, “Nope, not yet. Just bored. So I thought I’d pay you a visit and disturb you instead.”

“The couch is open you know,” he offered, noticing how she has perched herself on the countertop, she smiles and shakes her head no.

“Hey, congrats on the song by the way, such a jam. Total LSS, everybody’s in love and everybody’s still singing it,” she casually says, talking about Never Had, the song Oscar wrote for the scene they just shot yesterday. 

He smiles and starts strumming the song’s chords on his guitar, “thanks, I’m glad everyone likes it.”

“How come you never played it for me when you finished writing it? I mean, I heard you writing it in the beginning, but I don’t think I’ve heard the whole song until yesterday?”

“I didn’t want you to hear it,” he replied nonchalantly, she shot him a questioning look, making him snort, “Well, Elise has never heard the song before that’s why she was surprised when Reeves played it. I wanted you to be surprised when I play it, so I decided not to play it for you. If you think about it, I was doing you a favor and really helping you act so much better.”

She dramatically gasps, “Rude!”, she yelled, throwing a piece of candy she stole from one of the bowls on his countertop at him.

He flinches at the hit and laughs, “It worked didn’t it? You’re welcome!”

She laughs then rolls her eyes and continues to throw different types of candy at him.

“But seriously though, good job. I really did love the song.” she said, a genuine smile plastered across her face, “especially the funny yellow shoes part.”

He smiles, that part being his personal favorite too.

“Were you the one that added that to the script? ‘Cause when I first read the one they sent me, there was no thing about Elise having yellow shoes. But when I got the final script here on set, there was suddenly that part.”

“When I first played the song to Jamie, he loved it. So I guess he tweaked the script a bit after that.”

“Well, I love it. Again, especially the yellow shoes part. Made me smile so hard when I heard it. It reminded me of my yellow shoes back in Juilliard. Remember?” she replied enthusiastically. He silently nodded, a delicate smile forming on his lips.

“I loved those shoes so much! They were my sister’s graduation gift for me and I thought they were so couture!” she laughs, “I would wear them absolutely everywhere I could. They killed my feet, but I didn’t care. I thought it was magnificent. Gosh. I think I even wore it during my first showing--”

“When you did Juliet”

“Yeah! Even to the after party, I didn’t even think about changing, and I had to walk like two blocks to and from that party!” she gushed, shaking her head. 

“Yeah, I remember.” he replied softly, a smile permanently glued on his face as he watched her happily reminisce about her yellow shoes Juilliard days.

Oscar doesn’t really remember. He doesn’t remember when he started looking at Alba the way he was looking at her now, how everything seems to disappear and nothing else in the entire world matters at that moment, but her in front of him, happy. He doesn’t remember when he started holding his breath whenever she smiles at him or whenever she calls out his name. He doesn’t really remember when he started wanting more than what they have now. 

Was it during the production of this movie? No, not really, he’s certain it was way before any of this shared project. Perhaps it was sometime when he kind of moved in with her? Maybe. But writing Never Had with her in mind tells him whatever he’s feeling for her now isn’t new. He felt like it has always been within him, silent but there. He doesn’t remember when his feelings started speaking out, but it was getting louder and louder with each passing day, and it terrifies him. It fucking terrifies him to his core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I really love the movie 10 Years and I hope you've watched it before reading this chap. :)  
> If you haven't seen it yet, go see it! It's a really good chill and feel-good movie.   
> Also, I am sorry, because a big chunk of this chap and the next one is based on the movie and might be a bit of spoiler if you still haven't watched it. Don't worry, it's still worth the watch (and the re-watch lol)!!!


	14. Chapter 14

**2011**

Alba might have been hanging out with Oscar in his trailer for around 20 minutes more, before a loud knocking, followed by Channing waltzing in finally happened.

“Hey man” he cheerfully greeted with a nod, as he walked in, not noticing Alba sitting on the counter at first. 

“Oh hey Aly! I didn’t see you there…” he added quickly after finally seeing her, eyes widening and a suggestive smirk forming on his lips, “I’m here because I was supposed to call Oscar, to say that we’re almost gonna film your scenes, sooo, better go out there and have your makeups retouched and whatnot.”   
“Oh, okay. Thanks for the call man,” Oscar replied, standing up from the couch.

“No worries dude. Consider this is your 20 minute mark call, so you two--” Channing replied, flinging both his hands pointing at Oscar and Alba, “--better get out there. Unless. You two wanna stay a bit and I don’t know. Practice or whatever.”

Alba scoffs, “Fuck you! Get outta here!” she laughs, once again throwing candies, this time at Channing, who was also laughing and trying to duck his way out of the trailer.

“20 minutes lovebirds!” 

“Remind me to never arm you with hard candy again,” Oscar said mid-laugh, making his way to Alba, she smiles unwrapping one and popping it in her mouth.

“Ready?” he asked, standing in front of her, offering his hands to her.

She takes them, holding on tight before jumping down the counter. In a split second that felt like forever, she found herself standing in between the counter and Oscar. Close enough to be breathing the same air, but far enough to still have room to look up and find him looking back at her with a certain look on his face she can’t quite understand, both still holding on tight to each other’s hands. He clears his throat, and she lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

“Make up.” he said, hands letting go and feet starting to walk away, “Let’s go?”

“Yup! Let’s go.” she replied, nodding exaggeratedly and briskly walking out of his trailer.

After a quick retouch in the makeup trailer, they both eventually found themselves on the set of their scene. Their first two hours or so on set was spent with them just doing the brief dialogue between their characters leading up to the kiss. Around 50-something different takes of the same dialogue, filmed in different angles. Both of them absolutely in sync, perfectly and accurately nailing every damn take. 

“Great job you two,” Jamie, their director, called out after calling cut, “Let’s take 15, so you can both relax a bit and prepare, retouched and whatever before we shoot the kiss.”

They both nodded and gave each other a smile and a fist bump before starting to walk towards the tents and their directors chairs set up behind the camera.

Their 15 minute break was spent by rehydrating, checking their phones, flipping through their scripts, and being bombarded by hands trying to swab away sweats, retouch their makeup, and fix up their hair and clothes. Before they knew it, it had quickly come and gone, and they found themselves once again standing on their previous marks 15 minutes ago. Oscar was already leaning by the car and Alba was standing in front of him, arms both crossed over her chest as Jamie, spewed out final notes and instructions from behind the camera. Feeling her nerves starting to wreck her, Alba absentmindedly started to bite the tip of her thumb as she carefully listened to Jamie’s final directions.

“Hey” Oscar gently called out to her.

“Hey”

“You okay?”

She exhales, “Just a bit nervous I guess?”

“Hey, we got this.” he comforted, smiling, exuding that signature Oscar Isaac charm and confidence, raising his fist and offering it to her.

She smiles back and bumps it with hers, “If you say so.”

“We totally do.” Oscar replies, giving her a wink and she prays the red neon lights on set were enough for him not to notice the blush spreading across her face when he did.

“Alright. Actors ready?” Jamie asked, they both give him a nod and a thumbs up, “Okay, call it. And action.”

**_“Doing that would be a bad idea”_ **

**_“Why?”_ **

**_“You’re never here. You’re always on the road. Right?”_ **

**_“I’m here now.”_ **

Oscar gently caresses Alba’s cheek, thumb grazing the corner of her lips. He leans in slowly and just a little bit, as if still giving her an out if she didn’t want to push through with the kiss. She matches his pace as she closes her eyes, leaning in closer and closer until their lips finally touch and he goes in for the kiss, soft and delicate at first, but it slowly becomes a passionate and heated one. The kind that usually has the power to stop or at least slow down time.

“This is Elise and Reeves. This is Elise and Reeves. This is Elise and Reeves.” she sang over and over her head long before their lips even met, in the efforts to ground herself. “This is Elise and Reeves. This is Elise and Reeves. This is Elise and Reeves.” she felt Oscar’s free hand slip up to her waist to pull her closer, his other hand cupping her firmly by neck, deepening their kiss. “This is Elise and Reeves. This is Elise and Reeves. This Elise and Reeves.” her own hands finding his waist and grabbing on to them to steady herself. “This is Elise and Reeves. This is Elise and Reeves.” her skin tingles with his every touch, her heart beating so loudly she wonders if he could hear them too. “This is Elise and Reeves. This is Elise and Reeves.” she tried to think back to all the stage and movie kisses she’d ever done, and wonder if they’ve ever felt like this. “This is Elise and Reeves.” no, none of them came close to ever feeling like this. “Is this Elise and Reeves?” she wondered as she matched the pace of Oscar’s kiss, “Is this still Elise and Reeves? Or just Oscar and me? Is he feeling the same or is it just me?”

Just then, they hear a loud buzz followed by Jamie yelling cut. They both stop and parted, briefly resting their head on each other’s foreheads, eyes still shut, and both a little out of breath. Oscar was the first to pull away and looked at her, a gentle but somehow a bit concerned look across his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She looked at him and gave half a smile and a small nod, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Were you uncomfortable? Was I gripping on you too hard? Was the kiss too aggressive?” he starts to ramble worriedly. 

“Oscar!” she cut him off, a soft giggle starting, “I’m fine. Really.”

He exhales in relief, finally a smile forming on his face. “Okay, that’s good.”

“You guys were amazing. That take was perfect, just as I expected.” Jamie said through his mic, getting both of their attention. A group of people rushed to them fixing, retouching, dabbing whatever was needed to be fixed, retouched, and dabbed away on the both of them. A burst of cheers and howls from some of their co-stars watching behind Jamie followed, making both Oscar and Alba roll their eyes and laugh.

“Like I said earlier, this is just a two angle scene, and you did this one perfectly, we’ll just take one more for security and then do the one on wide before we go to the inside car scene,” Jamie explains, “sounds good?”

“Yep” Oscar replied and Alba just raised a thumbs up. 

“Alright let’s do it again, places everyone.” Jamie calls out and howls and cheers from their co-stars are heard from a far. 

Oscar chuckles as he leans back to the car and Alba rolls her eyes and raises her middle finger towards them before standing close to Oscar once again.

“Ready?” he asks.

She nods and smiles in reply.

“And action!”


	15. Chapter 15

**2011**

Everything played over and over again in Oscar's head like old reruns of a canceled show. The way her lips felt against his, how soft and delicate they were and how they sort of taste like candy. The way her smooth skin felt against his hands and the way he always felt shivers run down his spine whenever her hands found his chest or waist. The way her hair felt running through his calloused fingers and how they smelled like lavenders with maybe just a hint of vanilla. The way the smell of her cherry blossom perfume lingered on his skin and clothes and how intoxicated of her he was even long after the end of their shoot. When he really thought about it, he has absolutely no fucking idea how he was able to survive more than one take of those intimate scenes with Alba without him just completely losing it.

Oscar had kissed many people before, both men and women, mostly for work but admittedly, there were times just for fun too. But he had never had a kiss affect him the way Alba’s kiss affected him before, especially not ones he did for work. He has always been the calm, collected, and professional actor he was. Always knowing how to separate him, the actor and him, the character. Juilliard trained him well after all. He has always had a clear and calculated course of action when it comes to doing scenes like those, always focused and precise, never blurring the lines, never letting any of his real emotions slip through, but what happened on set that night was something else entirely. That kiss was not of Reeves and Elise, though it might have started that way, but somewhere between the takes, something changed and that kiss became of him and Alba, he just knows it. 

He also knows that whatever feelings for Alba he was harbouring before has now grown tenfold stronger and he had no idea what to do next. He hasn’t exactly done this “asking a girl out” thing in more than a decade. Being with his childhood sweetheart since high school, the last time he had to ask someone out was in high school and he fears that his game might be a little rusty.

Sure, he has confidence and that smooth-as-silk charm, it has even been proven how he can sweet talk his way out of almost everything, but not in this way. No. He didn’t want to sweet talk his way to his best friend’s heart, hell that was his best friend for almost a decade for crying out loud, she knows him better than to fall for his sweet nothings. So he has decided that if he’s even just gonna attempt to ask her out, he will do it seriously and properly. Like a proper gentleman, like a prince charming, girls like that, right?

Again, he wasn’t sure. What he was sure about was he was late for the wrap party of 10 Years that was happening at their hotel’s bar. Their movie just wrapped production this morning and is now celebrating with the whole cast and crew. It started about an hour and a half ago and he was still cooped inside his hotel room because of an emergency conference call he had with his agent. Now he’s rushing down to join the party. 

When he walked in the bar, he immediately found himself in the middle of a sea of people. Most have a drink or two in hand, some were dancing, others were in the booths laughing, some were on stage doing karaoke. In fact, one of those “some” was Alba with Jenna and Rosario belting out Wannabe by Spice Girls. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her.

“Hey Oscar! Over here.” someone called out from the bar, snapping him out his trance. He looked in the direction of the caller and found Anthony, Channing, Chris, and Scott waiting for him. Oscar makes his way to them and is greeted by fist bumps and man hugs.

“So fancy of you to join us Mr. Isaac.” Channing teased. 

“I know. I’m sorry” he said, arms raised in defeat as he sits down on one of the empty stools and tells the bartender his drink.

“Where were you man? Everyone’s been here for like an hour.” Anthony asked

“A call with my agent.”

Scott inhales sharply, “bad or good?”

“Mediocre” Oscar replies with a shrug, “Important, but not too exciting.”

“That’s always better than bad” Chris declares and raises his glass.

“Hear, hear” everyone agreed and raised their glasses too before drinking.

“So what did I miss?”

After being briefly caught up with the happenings prior Oscar’s arrival, the group's discussion suddenly turned into the topic of Oscar and Alba, as it usually does with these castmates of theirs. 

“You’re lying if you say that was nothing.”

“All here have done stage kisses, but never that way man, that was something.”

“What’s the harm of just asking her out?”

“You two are clearly compatible.”

“Plus no more getting to know stage. Because y’all already fucking know each other”

All Oscar could do was just laugh, take a gulp from his drink, and try to defend himself in some sort of way, even though he knows they’re all right. But of course he’d never give them the satisfaction of him telling them they were.

Just then, Alba made her way to the bar and scooted in the open space between Oscar and Chris. As soon as she did, it was as if the boys were caught doing something illegal because they all got so flustered and started making some lame reason to excuse themselves from the bar.

“Umm.. I think my wife is calling me.”

“I’m just gonna go… pee for a sec.”

“I wanna dance. Do you wanna dance? I’m gonna dance.”

And just like that they were all gone, except Oscar and Scott who probably froze in panic and just pretended to ignore them and started using his phone.

“What was that about?” Alba asked in shock and amusement as she leaned in on the bar to tell the bartender her drink.

Oscar shrugged, “I honestly have no idea.” 

Alba looked at him and they both bursted out laughing.

“I almost thought you wouldn’t show tonight. I thought you got sick or you died or something. But then I asked Jay, and he assured me that you’re still alive.” Alba shared, earning a soft giggle from Oscar.

“Yeah. I was on a call.” he casually replied, Alba nodded.

“Hey, great singing tonight.”

She made a face before rolling her eyes and flipping him off, “Fuck you”

“What? It’s a complement!” he argues mid-laugh, earning him an elbow to the side.

“Shut up.” she whined, laughing as well. 

“Hey. You still good?” he asked, checking up on her as he took a sip from his drink, a habit they both have formed from almost a decade of being in bars and parties together.

“Yep. Not even tipsy yet, maybe on the verge, but right now, just a bit buzzed.”

“Let me guess… third?”

“Fourth. Not counting the shot we took before Wannabe”

Oscar chuckles as a brief moment of comfortable silence falls on them.

“Hey can I ask you a question?” Alba said, quickly breaking the silence. 

“Shoot.”

“Are you ever gonna ask me out on a date, Isaac?” she asked so casually, with some brand of courage and confidence probably coming from those four drinks and a shot.

Scott almost chokes on his drink and starts to get up from his seat, “I’m just gonna-- yeah.” he mumbled as he left the two alone.

Oscar just sat there staring at her in shock and awe, cheeks tinted with blush and mouth agape, trying to form a coherent reply, but nothing comes out.

“Or are we just gonna pretend that we’re totally platonic, even if we both know now that we’re clearly not?” she adds, taking a sip of her drink, “cause I’m fine with that too, if that’s all that what you want.”

He stares at her in disbelief, a wide smile glued on his face, still unsure on how to reply.  _ Is this even real life? _ he thinks to himself as he drinks a gulp of his drink, still raking his brain for a proper response.

“Okay.” he said looking back at her.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll ask you out.”

Alba huffs in disbelief, a smile mirroring Oscar’s forming on her lips. 

“What are you doing the day after tomorrow?” 

“I don’t know, you tell me.” she replied coyly. His smile becomes even wider now, if that’s even possible. 

“Dinner in Brooklyn. 6 pm?”

She inhales sharply, “I have a meeting that ends at 5 and an hour just seems too short of a time to get ready for such a monumental date.”

“Okay. How about 7 and I pick you up at 6:30?”

“How about I just meet you there?”

“Okay.” he replied, cheeks starting to hurt from smiling too much.

“Okay.” she echoed, matching his smile and tinted cheeks.


	16. Chapter 16

**2011**

Alba’s not gonna lie, the courage that suddenly took over her that night she kind of asked Oscar out or at least provoked him to ask her out, was not her at all. It was most probably because of the alcohol in her system. She has no idea how it took over her, she just saw him there sitting by the bar, looking hella fine and all she could think about is how and why he wasn't hers. So fueled by liquid courage, the question just came out of her like word vomit she has no control over. THANK GOD it ended the way it did, because there were about 999 different ways it could’ve gone south. Except it didn’t and now she has a date with her best friend of nine years and her first real crush in college. 

“Is this too revealing for a first date?” she asked Logan who was lying down on her bed while she stands in front of the mirror trying on outfit number 8.

“Yep. Definitely.” he replied quickly glancing at her.

“So I guess outfit number 8 is also a no go”

“Um. Excuse ma’am? I said it was revealing, I never said you shouldn’t wear it.”

“But it’s too revealing, you shouldn’t wear something too revealing on a first date, you know, you gotta leave a little something to the imagination.”

“Yeah. If you’re going on a blind date with someone you haven’t met before. But this fucking Oscar we’re talking about, Ally! He’s practically seen you in everything.” LoRo passionately argued, “What’s a low neckline gonna do to him??”

She groaned and threw herself on her bed beside him, “Why is this so hard? This is just an outfit!”

He chortled, “You know why it’s so hard? It’s because this could be the outfit you’d be describing to your future kids when they ask about your first date with their Daddy.”

Alba gave LoRo a look before slowly shaking her head no, “Don’t LoRo. Don’t do that. Don’t give me false hope.”

“It’s not false hope Alba, trust me.” he replied standing up and pulling her up with him, “now c’mon, let’s dress you up and give them future kids a fighting chance.”

She scoffs and just lets him drag her out of bed and back into her closet.

Alba eventually found an outfit that was the perfect mix of flirty and comfortable. Once she did, off to Brooklyn she went, arriving at the restaurant Oscar texted her about 3 minutes past 7. She takes a big breath and walks in, warmly greeted by the hostess. 

“Hi, table reservation for Mr. Isaac?” she asked with a smile.

“Ah, yes. Right here.” the nice hostess said with a grin, finding their reservation, “Mr. Isaac is already seated. Kindly follow me and I’ll take you to your table.”

Alba nodded yes and started following her inside the dining room, starting to feel a bit anxious, worried that she might have made him wait for too long.

But all her anxiousness leaves her system when she sees him on the table by the window, quietly looking out to the city they both dearly love. He turns his head back to the dining room and sees her coming, a smile quickly forming across his face as he stands up to greet her. 

“This is your table. I’ll be leaving the two of you now and send in your waiter for the night to further assist you.” the hostess announced before leaving the two of them.

“Thank you.” the both replied with a smile before she left.

Oscar walked from his side of the table to Alba’s to pull out her chair for her. She smiles and thanks him before taking a seat. Him doing the same afterwards, both their smiles never leaving their faces.

“Hi.” he grinned.

“Hi.” she shyly replied.

“You look beautiful. As always.”

“Thank you,” she said blushing, “you don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Thank you. I really did try my best,” he chuckles and shrugs, “I knew you’d come in looking incredible, like you always do, and I wanted to look good for you and not embarrass you.”

She exhales a soft giggle and slowly shakes her head as she feels her cheeks turn bright pink, “well, I’m flattered and you do look absolutely dashing.”

“Thank god,” Oscar exhales in relief, making Alba giggle as they start looking at the menu laid on their table.

“How was your meeting?” he casually asks as they scan through their choices.

“It was good, ended a bit earlier than expected which was nice.” she replied, briefly looking up from the menu to look at him, he smiles and nods in reply and she continues back to scanning for her order.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

She looks up and finds him leaning forward, an awkward smile on his face.

“Sure.”

“I’m really nervous right now.” he confesses followed by an awkward laugh, “This is like my first date in a very long time.”

She smiles warmly, leaning in too and reaching one hand to his’ resting on the table, “I know. It’s mine too. Maybe not as long as yours, let’s face it, yours was crazy long (she teases, making him roll his eyes), but it still has been significantly some time for me too. And I’m really glad to be spending my first one in a long time with you.”

He smiles and takes her hand to his lips and gently plants a kiss, “I’m glad to be spending mine, tonight with you too.”

They spent almost a minute like that, just focused on each other, blushing and smiling like a couple of love sick teenagers on their very first real date.

“I got to warn you though, I don’t really sleep with guys on the first date,” she said teasingly, breaking their brief trance.

“I know.” he replied with a smile and nod, “good thing this is just the first of many.”

She makes a face in shock before rolling her eyes and going back to her menu, trying her best to ignore the heat forming on her cheeks and the butterflies flying wildly in her stomach.

They spent the rest of the evening like that. Flirting, sharing stories, making each other laugh, and falling into each other’s trance every so often. Appetizers, main courses, a shared plate of dessert, and a couple of glasses of wine each later, they are now both seated in the back of a cab. He insisted on dropping her off at her place first before going home, even if it means he had to travel all the way up to Washington Heights and back to Brooklyn again to get home. A comfortable silence fell upon them as they sat close together. Alba offered to share her earphones to Oscar early in the ride, which he gladly accepted, and now the two of them have an earphone each and is listening to one of Alba’s playlist as she rests her head on his shoulder and they just watch their city pass them by through the cab’s windows. 

They were about a block and a half away from her apartment building when she asked the cab to drop them off by the bodega by the corner of the block before hers instead. Oscar was a bit taken back by her request, but just followed her anyway as she slid out of the cab. 

“Is something wrong?” he asked worriedly.

“No, it’s nothing. I just thought the night’s so nice and a walk to my building would be really perfect right now,” she explains, offering her hand and her earphone back to him. 

He takes both, placing the earphone back on his ear and lacing his fingers with her as they start walking hand and hand, close and listening to music, smiles and blushes never leaving either of their faces.

They were just about 40 steps away from the front doors of her building when the intro of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful Word” started playing. Oscar stops walking and Alba looks at him with concern.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dance with me?”

“In the middle of the sidewalk??”

He smiled and nodded, pulling her close and swaying with her to the music. Ignoring the world around them and just enjoying the music, their closeness, and that moment of them slow dancing under the stars in the middle of a sidewalk in their New York City.

And it was in that very moment when it all fell into place, everything suddenly made perfect sense to Oscar and he knew right there and then, that he was all in. This. This is his forever person. He loves her. He has always had, but now it is much clearer and surer. In that moment, he knew that he wants nothing more in life but to love and be loved by this person in his arms, and that he would have to spend the rest of his life from now on, loving and making sure she feels loved. 

The song ends and she looks up to see him smiling and just staring at her, “What?”

He shakes his head no, still just staring at her. From her waist, one of his hands slides up and finds the side of her face. Gently holding it, thumb delicately grazing the corner of her lips, eyes dancing between looking into her eyes and her lips and back again. He leans in closer, close enough to have their lips almost touch, but far enough for her to back out at any moment if she wants to. She closes her eyes and holds her breath.

“May I kiss you?” he whispers.

He feels a smile form on her lips, but she doesn’t say anything, instead she just replies by leaning into him and pressing her lips into his gentle kiss and it was magic. The kind writers try their best to put into words in every poem about love they write and singers try to weave into every love song they sing. It was a kiss the could slow down time, the type that convinces you believe in those stupid fairytales and cliche romcoms. The kind of first kiss that ruins every first kiss you’ve ever had and will ever have for the rest of your life, the perfect seal for the perfect night.


	17. Chapter 17

**2011**

After their first date everything felt so right, they wondered why it took them that long to figure out that they were meant to be in each other's arms like this. He was the one to say “I love you” first, way too early into the relationship, most people would say, but he didn’t really care. It happened just a month into dating, one lazy afternoon on Alba's couch, watching reruns of Friends together. Her legs lay on top of his’ as she lies across him, eyes glued on the television, while his’ glued on her, a fond half smile on his face. 

She felt him gawking so she shot him a questioning look, “What?”

“I love you.” he earnestly declares, smile wider and eyes never leaving hers.

Taken by surprise, Alba sits up and tries to say something, but nothing comes out, so she just sat there in front of him, slack-jawed and frozen. Oscar laughs.

“You don’t have to say it back,” he protested, “This is a declaration of my love for you and I’m really not expecting you to say it back. I just wanted to tell you that I love you, because I do.”

A smile forms on Alba’s face and she hugs him tightly. She said it too eventually, a few weeks later, and they have never not said it to each other since. 

About six months into dating, they got tired of traveling back and forth from the Heights and Brooklyn. So they decided to move in together, finding an apartment somewhere in the neighborhood of Tribeca. Everything really did fall into place after that, it was as if it has always been this, always been them together by design. And everything was perfect, at least in the standards of real life.

**2014**

Of course, no relationship is really perfect. This is real life and they are real people after all. Real people with real emotions, who get real tired sometimes, and say and do real stupid things every now and then. Fights between them weren't common and were far apart, but it wasn’t nonexistent either. They bicker and annoy each other every now and then, argue and fight from time to time, but none ever get too serious and too long. They would always find ways to compromise or find a solution together. Their fights were almost never recurring either, well almost never, except for that one topic that they can’t seem to settle with, even after 3 years of being together.

Alba wanted to get married. She always has, like a lot of little girls who grew up on fairytales, she too dreamed of one day finding the love of her life and getting married to that person. Although her first engagement didn’t really work out the way she dreamed it would, she never lost hope about it. Oscar on the other hand was the complete opposite, he had a complete change of heart about marriages after his failed engagement. He thought they were no longer important and had turned his back to the idea of ever getting married. Even if it’s with Alba, and that frustrated her.

Their first fight about marriage happened a year into dating, the topic just came up out of nowhere and an argument brewed that they never really settled, they just kind of agreed to disagree. Ever since that, the topic would rise up every now and then and they would always end up arguing about it in one way or another, especially when they get invited to weddings which sort of reopens Alba’s unhealed wounds about it. 

“I’m just saying, it's been 3 years. We’ve been together for 3 fucking years and you’re telling me your mind haven’t changed one bit?” she argued as she sorted her newly washed clothes in the closet in their bedroom.

“Nope, it hasn’t,” he replied as he walks in their bedroom, with a fresh load of clean clothes, “just like you. Honey, it’s been 3 fucking years, and I don’t see you changing your mind about it either.”

Alba groans, “Why do you hate it so much?”

“I don’t hate it, I just don’t believe in it and I don’t want to do it.”

“Then why don’t you just marry me for the fucking sake of marrying me then? You don’t care about it anyway??”

“Then what?? I grow resentful of you for forcing me into a marriage I didn’t want? Then we get divorced and hate each other for the rest of our lives? Is that what you want Alba? Because I don’t want that.”

“Nothing's gonna change if we get married, it’s still just gonna be us.” she argues, emerging from their shared walk-in closet. 

“Exactly. Nothing’s gonna change, so why fucking do it?” he sternly argued back. 

She groans again, visibly getting frustrated, as she rests on the door frame of their closet just watching him put his clothes in the dresser. 

“Honey, I love you,” Oscar declares as he walks towards her, holding her face in between his palms, “ and I do want to spend the rest of my life with you, which I absolutely fucking plan to do. But it doesn’t mean we need some paper to prove and do that. If you want a party to celebrate our love, then let’s have a party, but marriage is not a required step in life.”

“It’s not the same,” she whispers as she gets out of his grasps and walks out of their bedroom. 

He follows her and sees her bee line towards their apartment’s front door, grabbing her wallet resting on the dresser near their door.

“Where are you going?”

“Gonna go pick up our dinner.”

“You want me to go with you?”

“No.” she said before walking out of their apartment.

He sighs and decides to just turn on the tv in their living room and watch whatever while waiting for her to come back.

When she came back, neither of them brought up the topic again. They just sat on their couch and ate their dinner while the tv played, letting the noise of it fill up the silence that fell upon them. The heavy silence continued even as they retired to bed that night and throughout their breakfast the next day.

“I have a couple of meetings today, but I’ll be back after” Oscar stated, trying to break the thick silence between them as they both stood in the kitchen.

“Yeah, I know.” she replied, loading their dishes in the dishwasher. 

“Do you want me to get anything? I might be passing by the greenmarket.”

“No, I think we’re good.”

“Okay… any plans today?” he asked as he moved to rest on the counter.

“LoRo’s stopping by today.” she replied casually, finally looking at him.

“Cool… okay, well I’m gonna head out,” he announced, walking towards her and giving her a kiss on the forehead, “I love you, Alba.”

“I know.” she replied as she watched him walk away.

After a long day of meetings, Oscar got home and found Alba sitting on the couch with her laptop.

“Hi honey, I’m home.” he announced walking in and making his way to the kitchen, placing the bag of takeout he brought to surprise Alba, on the counter.

“Hi. How were your meetings?” she asked, closing her laptop, expecting him to come over the couch.

“Long.” he exhaled, walking over to her and planting a quick smooch on her lips, “I brought sushi for dinner. Where’s LoRo?”

“He left like an hour ago.”

“Oh. Well. More sushi for us then.” he said, taking a seat next to her.

“Hey. Can I tell you something?” Alba asked, sounding a bit worried.

“Okay? What’s up?” he replied, sitting straight and starting to feel anxious.

“Last night got me thinking, I felt like I needed time to think on my own. So, I decided to go somewhere tomorrow, for five days. To just think and clear my head you know.” she explained, not being able to make eye contact with him the entire time she did.

“Are you breaking up with me?” he asked weakly, sounding both scared and hurt.

“What? No. God no.” she exclaimed, moving closer to him to cup his face so that he’s looking straight into her eyes, “Honey, no. I’m not breaking up with you. I just. I just need to figure things out on my own, so that we could figure things out together.”

A tear escaped from the corner of his eye and she gently brushed it off before pulling him into a tight hug.

“I won’t leave you. I promise I’d be back.” she whispers as she tries to comfort him in her arms, him just nodding in reply.

The next day, Oscar drove Alba to the airport. She kissed him goodbye and promised to be back in a few days, and he watched her as she disappeared in the sea of people. Oscar knows that Alba’s a woman of her words and that if she says she’ll come back, she will come back. He also knows that she loves him, but being walked out of, twice, does something to one’s psyche and his anxieties just grew with each passing day. He tried to keep himself busy the entire day, but it’s the emptiness of their bed at night that drives him crazy. It has only been two full days without her, but he’s anxiety was already on high. 

He was lightly asleep in the fetal position, when he felt her side of the bed dip slightly, stirring him awake. He looked behind him and saw her getting in bed and wrapping her arm around him.

“Hi,” he whispered.

“Hello” she replied, resting her chin on the crook of his neck.

“You’re back? It’s only been 3 days.”

“I know. I missed you.” she hummed.

He shifts to his back so he can also wrap his arm around her and she could plae her head on his chest, “How was your trip?”

“Good. I realized something”

“Really? What?”

“I realized you were right,” she replied, looking up to him, “When I was a kid, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by happily married couples, I thought being married meant being happily in love. But when I was thinking, I realized that everything those married couples have, we already have and so much more without even being married. I love you, you love me, and we’re happy. Married or not married, that will remain true, and you’re right. We don’t need a piece of paper to tell us that we can spend the rest of our lives together forever.”

“Are you sure?”

She nods, and closes her eyes, snuggling tighter to him. He places a kiss on top of her head and they both fall asleep, at peace and back in each other’s arms. 


	18. Chapter 18

**2016**

The end of 2015 and the entire following year brought a lot of changes in the ol’ O’Hara-Isaac household. It truly was a rollercoaster year for the both of them. 2015 brought Ex Machina and Star Wars in Oscar’s growing filmography and another successful Tony-award-winning broadway musical under Alba’s belt. One can even say that career wise, 2015 was a really good year for the O’Hara-Isaac household. Yes, work kept them busy and sometimes apart longer than they’d wish, but they did nothing but support each other every step of the way. They’ve become each other’s biggest fan and greatest cheerleader, holding each other’s hand in every win and every loss they have, watching each other and each other’s careers bloom.

They welcomed 2016 by finally purchasing their first house together, a brownstone down in Brooklyn Heights. It was a big step for the both of them, buying a house they can finally call their own and grow their family in. Sure it needed a lot of work before they could actually move in, but they can see it, the promise that that brownstone holds for them. They can picture it, a couple of bedrooms for a couple of little kids running around, a big enough yard to hold intimate Sunday brunches, a basement for family movie nights, and just enough room for everyone to have their own space, but still be close together. It was exciting, the start of 2016. Winter ended and Spring sprung with so much happiness, as they celebrated their 5th year together and welcomed a beautiful surprise. 

“Is it working? Am I recording?” Oscar mumble as he plays through the controls of Alba’s new gopro, she laughs from across their bathroom.

“Hi.” he announced once he was able to make it work, recording himself in front of the mirror, “Say hi honey.”

“Hello! Hi! ” she cheered from out of the frame.

“Alba wanted to film this, so here we are. We are in the bathroom and we’re about-- well, Alba’s about to pee on a bunch of pregnancy tests.” he explained swinging the camera to Alba’s direction.

“Well don’t film me while I’m peeing!” 

“Oops. Right, SORRY!” he laughed, quickly removing the camera from her direction.

After letting a few minutes pass, they both walked back in the bathroom, the camera now mounted somewhere in the sink counter, next to 4 different home pregnancy sticks lying face down. 

“Okay, let’s flip all four together, you and I two each,” she explained, handing two sticks to Oscar before grabbing the last two, “I’ll count to 3 and we flip AFTER 3.”

Oscar nodded giddily, unable to keep his excitement, “I’m so nervous.” 

“Me too,” she replied with a giggle.

“Just for the record honey, if it’s negative, I am ready to try making one again right here right now.” he joked, making the two of them laugh harder and shake her head.

“Let’s do this! Ready?”

He replied by nodding yes and taking a sharp inhale.

“Okay. 1. 2. 3.”

They both flip the sticks they’re holding at the same time and the next moment plays as if it was in slow motion and fast forward all at the same time.

“Yes!!” he screams, lifting both his arms in victory, a wide smile plastered on his face.

Her reaction was less scream-y, but tears of joy were present. 

“Oh my god” she whispers in between happy sobs as Oscar wraps his arms around her and lifts her off the ground.

“We’re having a baby, honey” he whispered, planting a kiss on top of her head.

“I’m so happy” she said as he wipes the tears off her cheeks, looking fondly at her.

“Me too… Me too.” he replied before giving her a quick kiss and kneeling down to do the same to her belly.

Life was absolutely perfect for the growing O’Hara-Isaac family, until the day it suddenly wasn’t. The loops and dips part of the rollercoaster that was their 2016 happened when they found out Oscar’s mom was sick. And it wasn’t looking good, she was dying, they tell him. The moment they found out, they both dropped everything, packed their bags and flew home to Florida. They gave up projects and pulled out of commitments they could still pull out from to temporarily move to Florida and be with his family. Alba was only around 6 weeks pregnant that time, so naturally they haven’t told anyone yet, not even their families. It was his mom who they both decided to be the first to know their little secret, a secret Eugenia was more than happy to keep.

A couple of weeks in, both Oscar and Alba have settled in a new calmer and a much more relaxed routine in Florida. Life in the big apple can be so rushed and fast paced sometimes, so Florida’s more laid-back family life was a welcomed break for the both of them. They had more time for longer breakfasts, lunches, and dinners together as a family. More time for morning walks and sunset strolls. More time for conversations and laughs to be shared. They spent most of their days helping in taking care of Eugenia, even if she already has a private nurse at home with them. They would hangout in her room a lot to keep her company, watch movies with her, read her poems and other stories, take her out in strolls, sometimes Alba would even volunteer to bathe her and give her a relaxing “spa treatment” which she loved. 

It was during one of those moments when Oscar realized just how lucky and loved he was. Because there she was, the love of his life, the mother of his unborn child, on his mother’s bedside, the first woman he truly loved, reading to her and making her laugh. And there he was, just sitting on the loveseat across his mother’s bed, watching them fondly as his emotions start to overcome him and his eyes start to water. He clears his throat and excuses himself before hurriedly walking out of his mother’s room with his head down, not wanting either of them to see.

He walks to the kitchen and drinks a glass of water in efforts to calm himself down. A few minutes had already passed when he decided that he was now fine and had all his emotions under control, and started to make his way back to his mother’s bedroom. But before he could reach her door, he already saw Alba across the hall, walking towards his direction.

“Hey. Are you okay? What happened there?” she asked worriedly.

“Uh. Nothing. Just. Needed water.” he replied with a half smile, “why? Is she looking for me?”

“Not really. Actually she just said she’s already sleepy so I already said my goodnight.”

“Oh. Okay. Wanna watch a movie?” he asked, looking at his watch and seeing that it was still quite early in the evening.

Alba sighs, “No, I’m actually quite tired. I guess I’ll just take a shower and go to bed.”

He nodded in reply, “Okay, I’ll just say goodnight to mom and follow you to bed.”

She nodded, before tucking a lock of his growing hair behind his ear and gently stroking his cheek, “You sure you’re okay?”

He smiled, “yup.”

“Okay.” she whispered before passing by him.

“Hey, Alba?” he called out, looking back at her.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” she smiled, before continuing on.

Oscar carefully opens the door of his mother’s room, trying his best to be quiet, just in case she’s already asleep.

“I really do love and adore her Oscar,” Eugenia says, when her son walks in.

“Hmm?”

“Alba… I’ve always liked her, ever since you introduced her to us as one of your friends from Juilliard. But now I like her even more.”

Oscar smiles as he fixes her blanket around her, “Well, I’m glad you do. Because I love her too, mom very much so.”

“She’s going to be a good mother, I can tell.”

“Yeah?” he asked with a smile, now sitting on her bedside, “I think so too.”

“Here, take this. I’ve wanted to give you this since the first time you brought her home as your girlfriend,” she said, as she slips a small velvet pouch on her son’s palm. 

Oscar was a bit surprised at first, but he eventually takes and opens it. When he did, he found her mother’s diamond engagement ring. His eyes widen and quickly looks back up to Eugenia, who has a knowing smile spread on her face.

“Mom--”

“Your father gave me that ring when he asked me to marry him. Now, I know that it’s just a simple ring, we didn’t have much when we started out, your father and I. He had to work 3 extra shifts for 5 months just to be able to afford that simple ring. I guess that’s why it is one of my most prized possessions. My favorite gift your father gave me, besides you and your siblings of course,” Eugenia shares, staring at her first baby, now all grownup and about to have his first baby too, “I’ve always dreamt of passing it on to family. To you most especially. You and whoever you would love the way your father loves me and whoever would love you the way I loved your father… I really think you should give it to Alba.”

“Mom,” he whispers, trying to protest, “we’ve talked about us getting married right?”

“I know. I know.” she dismisses him, “I’m not asking you to propose to her, I’m simply asking you to give it to her.”

He chuckles and shakes his head.

“Unless-- somehow, you’ve changed your mind…” she said suggestively, giving her son a knowing look, “in case you have, please do it before I die, because I’d love her to become my daughter before I’m dead.”

“Mom!” he softly scolds her, making her giggle, “that’s not funny.”

“I know. I’m sorry, but I’m not joking” she whispers, caressing her son’s cheek, “this is the truth my son, I will not be here for much longer. The earlier you learn to accept that, the easier it would be later.”

“Mom. Please...” he whispered, voice getting shaky, tears starting to fill up the corners of his eyes.

“Oscar, promise me you’d always take care and love her and your growing family. Okay? Promise me that you’ll learn how to take care of yourself too, you work too hard.”

“Mom--”

“Promise me.” 

“I promise.” he whispers, tears starting to blur his sight.

“I’m so proud of you Oscar, of the man you’ve become and the father you’ll be.”

“Mom, stop. Please. I don’t think I’m ready for this kind of talk.” he pleaded, shaking his head, as tears escaped his eye. She exhales and nods, wiping the tears away from her baby’s cheek.

“Right. I should be sleeping now. Don’t you think? What are you still doing here disturbing me?” she jokes, trying to lift their moods.

Oscar exhales and tries his best to smile before leaning in and giving his mother a kiss on the forehead, “good night Mom, I love you. I’ll see you in the morning okay?”

She smiles and nods as she watches her son quietly leave her room, “good night my little Oscar. I love you too.”


	19. Chapter 19

**2016**

After spending almost 2 months in Florida, work finally called out for them again, and no matter how hard they tried, some work was just simply difficult to turn down and ignore. 

“Life must go on. You both can’t just stay, sulk here, and wait for me to die while letting work opportunities slip you by.” Eugenia sternly lectured both Oscar and Alba, “You've both been here for 2 months now and I’ve loved every moment of it, but you can’t just stop living your own lives for me. So go now and leave, live your lives again. I’ll just be here and I’m fine. Dad and I will be fine.”

So with hesitant hearts, they both heeded Eugenia’s push and flew back to New York, promising to call up and check in everyday. The first week back wasn’t easy, it was a bit overwhelming if they were both being honest, but they eventually found their rhythm back and soon they were both back to their normal grind.

“Oh! By the way, Oscar and I went to the baby doctor this morning...” Alba shared to Eugenia on their daily facetime call during the evening.

Oscar comfortably sat next to her on their couch in the living room. Smile plastered on his face, fondly watching as she laughs and tells his mom about their doctor visit that morning. 

“We don’t know yet. But we are planning to find out.” she replied.

“When are you gonna find out?”

“Our doctor said we can find out around 18-19 weeks, so maybe we’ll find out then. But the good news is, we’ve just entered the 12 week mark and our doctor basically just gave us the thumbs up to share the news.”

“Oh! That’s exciting! Finally. It doesn't need to be a secret anymore.” Eugenia replied excitedly, making both Alba and Oscar laugh, “How are you planning to announce?”

“I don’t think we’ll make too big an announcement out of it. We’ll probably just casually tell people.”

“You should throw a party. Then Dad and I will fly there to New York and celebrate with all of you.”

“Mom, are you even allowed to fly out of Florida?” Oscar butted in.

“Why not? My doctor said I’m getting stronger, I have nurse Lissa with me, and Dad is also a doctor. How bad can it be?”

“I’m just concerned that traveling might stress you out too much. And we don’t want that right? I don’t think this the best idea.” Oscar firmly stated.

“Maybe this is the best idea. Maybe it’s good for me to get out of Florida even just for a while.” she argued, being as stubborn as her son.

“Mom.” he replied, giving his mother a stern look.

“Oscar.”

“Okay, how about this,” Alba intervened, “Go ask your doctor about it, and if he gives you the go signal, we’ll set a date and have a party here in New York. If not, we’ll just fly to Florida and have a party there instead. Sounds good?”

“Alba sweetheart, you are a genius.” Eugenia exclaimed, making Alba chuckle, “My son is really lucky to have you.”

“He really is, isn’t he?” she teased, making a face towards Oscar, who just responded with a scoff and by shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

After a few more minutes and a few more stories, Eugenia finally said goodnight and Alba and Oscar were left on their couch, cuddled up and watching SNL. Oscar couldn’t help but stare at her and think to himself how lucky he was to be right here and there. On the couch with the mother of his child and love of his life in his arms, comfortable, happy, and in love. He doesn’t know what he did here or in his past life to deserve this, but whatever it was, he was grateful. He has never been more in love with her the way he is right now, he thought falling in love was just a one time thing in relationships, but she has proven him wrong day by day for the past 5 years. Because everyday, he finds himself more and more in love with her, with no signs of slowing down or stopping. 

Alba felt him staring, so she looked at him and gave him a questioning look, “What?”

A delicate smile appears on his lips, eyes all dreamy and glued on her, “Marry me.”

“What?!” she asked in genuine confusion.

“Marry me,” he repeated with a chuckle.

“Okay. HA HA HA. You’re joking right. VERY FUNNY.” she said, rolling her eyes, patting him on his shoulder, and focusing back on the tv.

“I’m not kidding. I swear. I’m fucking serious Aly.” he protested, standing up and quickly making his way to their bedroom. Alba sits up and watches shocked and confused as hell as he disappears in their bedroom, followed by rustling sounds of a few things and drawers, coming from the inside. 

“In fact. I am so serious, I actually have this.” Oscar announced, holding up a small velvet pouch as he emerges from their room and before kneeling on one knee in front of her.

She stared at him, slack-jawed and still not sure if what she’s seeing is actually happening, “What is happening?”

Oscar smiles at her, eyes starting to glaze up with tears, as he takes a deep breath before starting his short speech.

“I’ve been thinking about it. I know I said the things that I said, and I’m not sure if it was my perspective that changed or just me. But the one thing that I do know is that I love you so damn much. And it was so selfish of me to ask you to give up one of your dreams when here you are, giving me mine…” he passionately declared, looking directly at her, tears almost spilling and getting all choked up, pulling out his mother’s ring from the small pouch, “...Alba I am so in love with you. And I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life falling more in love with you as we both get old and grumpy together. I want to spend the rest of my life making your dreams and our dreams, and whatever dreams our future kids may have, come true together. So, Alba Eunice O’Hara will you marry me?”

Alba just stared at him, looking like a crying mess of emotions just like him, “I don’t know?”

Oscar gives him a shocked look and chortles, “honey?!”

“I mean, are you sure? Cause I don’t want you to marry me just because and then resent me for the rest of our lives” she replied with a slight chuckle, wiping down the tears from her face.

He chuckled and nodded yes, “I have never been more sure in my life.”

“Like really, really sure?” she teased with a laugh, making him smile and scoff.

“Like really, really sure. Like I will ask you a million times, everyday, if I have too,” he replied, reaching out his empty hand to hold hers, “but in the interest of time, I’m just gonna ask you one more time tonight, it’s okay if you say no, I’ll just gonna go ask you again tomorrow and all the tomorrow after that. But for the last time, tonight, Alba O’Hara. I love you so damn much. Would you like to spend the rest of your life with me making our dreams come true together, as my wife?”

She smiles, tears cascading her face once again as she nods yes, “I’d love to.”

Oscar smiles and gets up to give her a quick kiss and hug before slipping his mother’s ring into his now fiancee’s finger, fitting her perfectly. 

Eugenia’s doctor gave her the go signal to travel to New York and Oscar and Alba both thought that would be the perfect time and opportunity to get married and announce their pregnancy. So just a few days after getting engaged, they started planning a surprise wedding and party for themselves, and in just 2 weeks time, there they were, at their own wedding, that took 14 long years in the making. They decided to rent out one of their favorite restaurants in Brooklyn and invite their families and close friends for an intimate “engagement party”, their guests unaware that they are already going to get married right now and there, but everyone cheered once the emcee announced to the guests what actually was happening. 

It was just a simple wedding, it was prepared for in a span of just a couple of weeks after all, so it wasn’t too fancy. Far from what Alba imagined her dream wedding would be when she was 9. There were no long aisles or a million white roses waiting for her to walk on, no special gimmicks, no excessive decorations. She wasn’t even wearing that dream princess ball gown with jewels on her hair, no, she was just wearing a simple dainty little tulle and lace tea length dress, her hair propped into a slightly messy bun being held together by a brooch made of fresh flowers. It was quiet and simple, the exact opposite of the loud and extravagant one she imagined as a kid. But it didn’t really matter much to her, what mattered most was the absolute love of her life waiting for her down the aisle as her father walked her down across it towards him, all smiles and wiping down the tears already falling from his eyes.

Their wedding ceremony was short and sweet and was officiated by one of their dear friends. Their vows to each other were both emotional and funny at the same time. Making each other and all their guests cry, laugh, and then cry some more. The party that followed after was absolutely fun. It was filled with good food, good drinks, good music, good speeches, questionable dancing, and overall just a really good time. Towards the end of the night, just after the newlyweds gave their short thank you speech to the crowd, they played a video that announced their pregnancy and the entire room bursted in gleeful cheers and they were bombarded with warm hugs and excited congratulations. 

The start of Oscar and Alba’s happily ever after was perfect. It was a night that took 14 years in the making, and if they were completely honest, they would have never seen this happening but, it did and they couldn’t be more happier and content with their life right at that moment. Both absolutely thankful for the life they’ve had to live to get here and excited for the life they’re still about to live together.


	20. Chapter 20

2017

Mr. and Mrs. Isaac welcomed the following year by finally moving in their Brooklyn brownstone after a year-long renovation. It was also just the right time because not long after they moved in, about 3 weeks to be exact, they finally welcomed their first born. A healthy little baby boy they decided to name Eugene, named after Oscar’s dear mother. They called him Gino for short. He was the perfect mixture of him and her. And even though taking care of a newborn wasn’t easy, all the cliches about parenting were true. Because no matter how many sleepless nights, poopy diapers, and spit up filled shirts they may have, the love they have for their son is so much more stronger and abundant than all of those things. 

“My mom died a month after Gino was born,” Oscar shared to the company they still have in their apartment living room, “We were there, thankfully. She was also able to meet Eugene and was absolutely thrilled when we told her that he was named after her. She died peacefully and surrounded by her family. Which was nice. I guess.”

Alba gently stroked her husband’s hand in the efforts to comfort him, knowing that it has only been months and his wounds are still fresh. He looked at her and smiled, before giving her a quick kiss on her temple. 

“After Eugenia’s funeral, we went back to New York and got back to business and now we’re all here. In Argentina, filming the very first movie we’re working on together both as producers and husband and wife.” Alba uttered.

“Which eventually led to tonight, and us telling you all our incredibly long love story,” Oscar added.

“Well it was truly incredible. Thank you for sharing.” Taylor replied before looking over at LoRo, “and I guess you weren’t kidding when you said it was long, because it was.”

“Girl, what did I tell you?” he responded, making the entire room cheer in sleepy and slightly buzzed laughter. 

After sharing a couple more drinks and a few more jokes and stories, everyone finally called it a night. Everyone helps their hosts in cleaning up before saying their goodnights and leaving the apartment. Logan also bids his goodnight to Oscar and Alba before retiring to his own bedroom in the apartment. 

Alba was taking a quick shower when Oscar decided to slip out of their bedroom and take a peek at Gino’s nursery. He quietly walks over his son’s crib and finds him peacefully sleeping. A small smile forms on Oscar’s face. It has been a crazy few months for him, losing his mother, becoming a father, playing Hamlet in Broadway, all while still continuously working on films and a handful of other projects. He plays back and reflects on the supercut of his life, and all he could think about is how much the last 15 years he had shared with Alba in his life, was the best 15 years of his 38 years of existence on this earth. If someone would have told him that night, back in 2002, that meeting Juliet from the showing would be the best thing that would happen in his life, he would have just laughed and told that someone to fuck off, but now, as he stands in his and that Juliet's beautiful son’s room, watching him peacefully sleep, he can’t help but thank God and all the other gods that might be out there for that night in 2002. 

“Hey,” he hears a soft voice pulling him out of his thoughts, he looks towards the nursery’s door and finds his beautiful wife smiling at him.

“Hey,” he replies as she walks over to him and wraps her arms around his waist and rests her chin on the crook of his neck.

“What are you doing here gawking over our son?” she asked teasingly, making him smile and scoff, “you know people find it generally creepy when other people watch other people sleep?”

“I was just thinking” he replied with a sigh.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I was just thinking how lucky I am to be living this crazy life. I mean, when I moved to New York for Juilliard a million years ago, I dreamt of living a good life. But damn, I never thought it would be this good.”

Alba stared at her husband, the absolute love of her life, as he professed his feelings, her sharing the same sentiments as the man in his arms.

We lucked out in life didn’t we?” she whispers.

He smiles and nods in agreement, “Me most especially.”

“Well, if you’re not too tired, you might get even more luckier tonight,” she suggestively teased before releasing him from her embrace and walking out of their son’s room.

His eyes followed her as she walked out, an amused smile and a growing blush on his face. He sighs and looks at his sleeping son one last time.

“We’re lucky bud. So freakin’ lucky to have her.” he whispers before leaning in giving Gino a gentle kiss on the forehead and quietly leaving his room to follow Alba in their bedroom. 


End file.
